Bones in the forest
by AleciaB
Summary: An attempted murder gone horribly wrong has Beckett & Castle on a case that Beckett is reluctant to continue. But as the story unfolds they become absorbed in a bigger mystery that may interrupt their vacation.
1. Chapter 1

**This is simply a story. It's not set in any particular date and it goes outside the confines of the show as we know it. There is adult language and content. It doesn't adhere to the progress of the show. If you want me to keep posting chapters, let me know. I'm still writing it.**

**Chapter 1 - Death of a hit man**

Billy Benson sat on an upturned milk crate. He unconsciously twiddled his thumbs. He contemplated the situation.

_Waiting, waiting, waiting. Constant tick, tick, tick._

This was the final morning he would have to watch and wait and be patient. There had been too many delays, whether planned or unexpected that had left him with a limited number of days in which to put an end to the job. His schedule buffer, based on the premise that there is always enough time to do it right, had been exhausted. So in effect the task needed to be finalised that morning. It was time to move on. It was the morning he was to do it. His instincts had settled and he was ready.

He gazed around the basic one bedroom apartment as a way to maintain the calm and concentration his task would require. Without the comfort of furniture and personal belongings, the apartment was devoid of homeliness. The living room was a dim area regardless of the amount of natural light available. Lit only by the spill of city lights through the sliding glass balcony door the room was cast with long eerie shadows. The air was always chilly and humid. The walls throughout needed a coat of paint, the floor new carpet and the bathroom was in grave need of renovation, but he didn't care. He picked up his coffee cup from the floor and took a sip of it to check its temperature.

_Arrrhhh_, it was good.

He slurped a mouthful through the hole in the lid and savoured the rich blend of beans. Like most people he too needed a stimulant every day to wake him up. Coffee did it for him. He also needed steady hands. One cup of coffee was good. Two would be too much.

Benson checked his watch.

Still too early. With a glance at the windows he saw it was also predawn. Not quite there. But time was fast approaching for him to prepare.

Billy cast a quiet gaze down his attire. He was dressed as in black cotton hoodie and jeans and work boots. Nondescript clothing because he needed to be able to slip discreetly into the background to escape the scene unnoticed. Any witnesses who would speak to the police wouldn't mention him as he would be hidden in the shadows. The invisible man was his ideal.

He reached to and picked up his cell phone that was receiving any audio the surveillance bugs transmitted was on the floor between his feet not picking up much. The apartment across the road had audio bugs installed in every room. Presently the smart phone was only receiving the intermittent sounds of two people sleeping. One of them occasionally snored. Benson knew it wasn't the visitor who snored.

It was time to prepare.

Benson rose effortlessly from the milk crate, left his phone on it and stepped closer to the open sliding glass door to study the apartment across the way. It was still in darkness. If all went according to plan, in another few minutes the bedroom light in the apartment would come on. Like every other morning, Billy would hear his target rise out of bed to face another day. He would use the bathroom as he mumbled whatever thoughts came into his mind. After two months of listening and observing, Billy knew this guy inside out. The audio bugs planted throughout the apartment had been more than enough for Billy to familiarise himself about how this man ticked. Following him about had taught him a lot more. He had his evidence, his justification for the taking the man's life.

While he waited Billy mentally stepped through the procedures he planned to follow from the moment he stepped out on to the balcony to the second he would use the rifle to terminate the target. The second portion of the plan was to retreat inside the apartment, disassemble the rifle into its nondescript case and walk from the apartment for the final time. It was a simple assignment that had taken surveillance, planning, patience and time. It would all be over in a matter of minutes and once it was over, he could commence the new stage of his life.

As he drank the coffee, and right on schedule, the bedroom light came on.

The target was awake.

A smirk spread over Benson's face in partial amusement at the predictability and timeliness of the occupant. In exactly eight minutes the mark would be on his treadmill for his daily run. Benson had been timed and jotted down the habits of this man on numerous occasions.

He waited.

Minutes later, Benson tipped what was left of the coffee down his throat in gulps then did away with the empty take out cup by tossing it into the duffel bag that he would take with him with he left the apartment. He listened to the target move about the apartment and get ready to exercise. Benson felt a light buzz of anticipation inside his gut. He welcomed than feeling. It was almost time.

Benson stepped over to the kitchen counter carrying the duffel bag that he placed beside a carry case that had been left open. Closed, there was no clue the case stored a weapon. He removed the blue latex gloves form his hands. He habitually wore gloves while he moved about the apartment but disliked wearing them when he assembled the weapon. He tucked the used gloves inside the main compartment of the duffel bag and pulled out a fresh pair from a box. He dropped them on the counter ready to put on in a minute.

He ran the zipper around it, folded it back to lie flat, and proceeded to move smoothly through the assembly and loading of the weapon with practised certainty. Thirty seconds later he had the rifle assembled, function checked, loaded, and ready for action. He left the case in place on the table so he could reverse the process just as quickly when he was done with the weapon.

Benson once again talked himself through the steps like a chorus of a song. Over and over in his head. He had to successfully evacuate the apartment before the police showed up. Leave nothing behind. The decibel level of the two shots he planned to use would be enough to wake most of the local residents with a jumpy start to their day. Once they realised what had occurred he would be dissembling the weapon. By the time the cops arrived, Billy knew he would be walking back to the hotel room to pack up and drive out of the city.

He glanced at his watch then looked across the street. It was time to undertake his job. Through the window he could just see a light come on in the adjacent room that had been converted to a small gym. The man that Billy had been following, watching and spying on for the past two months entered the room right on schedule.

From a side pocket of his duffel bag, Billy brought out a worn photograph of a beautiful young brunette woman in her early twenties. He stared at it for several seconds. "This one is for you baby girl. I will find you," he whispered and returned the photo to the pocket.

Benson pulled on the second pair of blue latex gloves and with his rifle held low in his right hand he walked to the balcony. He fully slid open the balcony doorway and stepped out. After a quick survey of the street and other apartments to be sure he wasn't being watched or seen he stepped to his right to the railing. For several seconds he stared at the man in the apartment. For a brief moment he felt pity for the man who had woken that morning for the last time. It was only brief moment. The target had been completely dehumanized for Benson a long while ago. He deserved to be put down with an absence of any emotional response that would normally occur after the loss of a life.

Benson inhaled deeply, quietened his mind, refocussed. He made every effort to slow his respiration and heart rate. All thoughts were purged from his consciousness but for the mission he was committed to. He adhered to the procedures he'd been trained to do that would place him in the zone, the perfect state of arousal that heightened his physical and mental awareness. Nothing else mattered right now.

There was one problem, one challenge that was threatening job he was about to do. He took another step to the right closer to the balcony railing. Two days earlier Billy's target had upgraded his treadmill and the guys who had installed it had moved his gym equipment about a quarter of a metre to their right. It was only when Billy had attempted to take out his target yesterday morning that he had discovered the problem. The vital target zone on his target on the new treadmill was further concealed by a main branch of the damn tree between the two apartments. Billy had heard his target declare he was extremely happy with his new purchase, unbeknown to him it had given him another day of life. He was better protected by the tree right outside the apartment Billy stood in. From Billy's perspective there was only one way around the problem.

Antonio Perri limbered up and stretched his muscles in preparation for his predawn run on the treadmill. He would run for thirty minutes. He had no idea that he was being watched as he shook out his limbs and stretched his sleepy muscles. In fact he was oblivious to the fact that for the past eight weeks he had been followed nearly every day and night. Keen to put some more miles on his state of the art running machine, he stepped on it. He paused a moment to familiarise himself with the console. It was quite nifty. It had a standard monitor he could use as a TV or computer, he could plug his MP3 player into it and upload songs to it or could rest a book or tablet on it if he wished. He commenced to fiddle with the console by hitting the large green start button, a little excited about playing and running. The screen installed on the console sparked to life. He smiled. He liked to watch the morning program before he went to work so he thought he would go with that.

The treadmill commenced at a walking pace that Tony soon increased to a jog.

Shielded by the early morning predawn darkness, Billy swung his right leg over the railing of the balcony to get a better angle to the apartment to his left. He no longer heard what was going on in the apartment because the phone was inside. He now only relied on his sight.

He observed the target who was at a slow jog and would be running inside five minutes. Personally, Billy didn't understand Perri's fetish for running so early. If Billy was in Perri's shoes he'd be in bed still tapping the girlfriend, not playing on a treadmill. But he couldn't understand most of his sick fetishes. The man was pure evil and so was the woman he slept with.

He reminded himself to not lose his concentration. He knew he had approximately 28 minutes to hit the target and he needed to get the job done before it was light, before people were out of bed which reduced his time to about eight minutes. Dawn was breaking. That meant time was of the essence.

Once he made the kill shot, he needed those valuable seconds it took for people to wake, to realise what had happened and to run to windows, for him to be able to retreat inside the apartment without being seen. The first few minutes after the shots sounded in the morning air and echoed of the buildings there would be chaos in every apartment. That would result in occupants phoning police and trying to see the action. He felt a little impatience creep into him that the tree prevented an easy and clear shot at his target. As a sniper he needed to have a shot to the heart and that wasn't going to be easy to do. .

Billy fiddled with his shoes on the railing to ensure his footing was secure. The cold mornings had left mildew on the railing. Footing good he turned his attention to the weapon. He set the selector lever semiautomatic. He lifted the M4 carbine to his right shoulder to the place it felt snug. There were ten rounds in the rifle. He needed to use a maximum of two in order to achieve his goal: one round, the one in the chamber to break the glass, the second round to expand and destroy Perri's heart. One more direct check at Perri to ensure he was still in a steady jog on the treadmill.

The rifle was poised and Billy was ready, but the angle of the shot was compromised by the large branch more than it had been the day before. Benson had decided weeks ago to wait for the fall, for deciduous leaves to die and drop from the tree. That would enable him to obtain the best view but it wasn't a satisfactory position he was in. Billy had made the compromises to work through the challenges.

He had been hired for a new job and needed to start on that lucrative contract within the next three days across the country. Finances were low and needed to be topped up fast. He lowered the rifle and wriggled closer to the corner of the balcony. He courageously leaned right over the bar. With his body balanced precariously over the edge of the balcony, the rifle was lifted back up to position against his shoulder. He aimed at the target. Billy Benson had Antonio Perri in his cross hairs, his finger lightly on the trigger. He slowly, deeply inhaled and exhaled to slow his heart. He kept his hand steady, his balance perfect. He needed to just lean out a little farther.

Billy stretched that little bit more. As he re-adjusted his aim on his target's chest, Benson's right boot slipped on the railing. He over corrected. The sole of his shoe completely lost its grip. He fought to regain his footing but used too much strength. His body swayed outward. His arms flailed, flinging the rifle forward and to his left toward the tree.

Unable to regain his balance, Billy Benson fell three floors flailing to his death when his head met the concrete sidewalk with a loud pop.


	2. Chapter 2

_Ok, here is the next chapter... remember, I'm out side the limits of the show in this story as it is fanfiction. This chapter will give you a little taste of how this story is going to unravel. _

**Chapter 2 - Attend the site**

The noise of the iPhone ringing didn't arouse a soul in the master bedroom that was in unusual disorder. The area near the walk in robe resembled a disaster area. It was as though it had exploded outward tossing clothing everywhere. In reality Kate had done it getting ready to go out the day before.

After Kate had finally satisfied her fetish with the karaoke game at about 10.00 pm and Castle had given her an almighty standing ovation, they had dropped into bed intoxicated and full to the brim with gourmet food. Their Sunday had been busy with social engagements from morning to evening. It had been filled with significant fun. Too exhausted last evening, Castle and Beckett had discarded the clothes they had worn over the furniture and the end of the bed. There were also bits scattered on the floor between the office and bedroom.

With their energy fully depleted the second their heads had met with the pillows they had immediately passed out.

The noise of their combined snoring would have woken anyone else staying in the loft that night. Rick's was throaty deep and long and Kate's was more of a light purr. Their sleep was undisturbed until one of the iPhones began to shrill over the noise of the snoring. It was realistically a surprise that either of them managed to hear it they were in such a deep state of slumber. Closer to the phone, it was Castle who gradually came to. At first he thought the ring was a part of his dream. More conscious, more aware he realized it was a phone. Reality soon homed in on his senses. The idea it could be Alexis wanting him brought him to a light state of consciousness, when the sense of pain also began to work. Then he realized it was Kate's ringtone that pierced his ears with its annoying whistles. A throbbing headache was becoming evident. He moaned. The damn chirpy theme from a TV show she really liked about cops and covert affairs was more than annoying. In another few weeks it would be another embarrassing tune he would have to suffer through.

Castle tried to moisten his dry mouth. There was a bad taste in it and his tongue felt like it had been swapped for an old dry sponge. He was coherent enough to know his brain was already hurting with a pounding headache and the phone was increasingly hurting his brain. It was clearly a hangover.

_Water. _

He needed water. Right now.

The ringtone was relentless and he was sure it was damaging his ear drums. It was excessively loud. He blindly reached for the ringing cell phone to shut it up, feeling for the vibration. He blindly slid his thumb across the bottom of the screen which cut the noise, then brought the phone to his ear clearing his throat.

He croaked out, "Hel…?" He cleared his throat once again. "Hello?" That was better, "Beckett's voice mail service. Hit one to leave a message for a call back at a more humane hour." Satisfied with his greeting, he swallowed and moved the phone to his bleary eyes so he could hang up. The flaw in his plan? He wasn't able to open his heavy eyelids yet.

"Castle!" Ryan squawked, "Wake up, Dude!"

Rick's nerves jerked at Ryan's booming voice. He accidentally dropped the phone on the mattress. He half opened his eyes and tried once again to moisten his mouth before he mumbled, "I'm here." He found the phone and put it closer to his ear. "I'm here." He repeated.

"A body has dropped. You and Beckett need to meet us."

"Seriously?" Castle said then grumbled something incomprehensible and sleepily yawned back into the phone.

"Castle, where's Beckett? She'll kill you…"

Castle glanced over his shoulder as he reached clumsily for the water bottle he had spotted on the bedside table. "No, I don't think she's in any state to kill me." He replied as he grasped the bottle, pulled the nipple open then drank thirstily, sucking it noisily. He released the cap, and the bottle crackled as it expanded. "Jesus, that's loud."

"Say that in English please." Ryan requested as Rick once again slurped on the nozzle of the bottle.

Rick pulled back the bottle, "Text us the address. We'll see you there." He opened his eyes long enough to disconnect the call, then dropped the phone on the bed forgetting about the dead body for now. As the water hit his stomach he considered having guzzled the water hadn't been such a good idea. He laid his head back to the pillow and stayed still for a little while to allow his stomach time to get used to it.

His thoughts naturally shifted to catching a few more moments with the woman who slept with him, to doing the things he'd longed to do with her last evening but they had fallen to sleep. Attracted to the thought of having her in his embrace for starters, he rolled over to rouse Beckett from sleep. He slipped his arm around her slim waist and pulled her closer to his body. He lifted the blankets over them.

Kate moaned, "Five more minutes, Babe. I still think I'm gonna die."

"We don't have five minutes, Sweetie."

She frowned because of his use of pet names, "Who was it, _Honey_?"

Rick made a noise of amusement a smile spreading over his face because she called him honey, "It was Ryan."

"What did he want?"

"A body has dropped. We have to leave soon." He sighed when he heard the text message hit her phone. "That's the address, he's sent us."

"Later." Kate mumbled, "Ssss way too early." The dull thumping of a hangover headache had already begun in the recesses of her mind.

"I agree."

"Sleep more, Babe." She had definitely drunk Castle under the table yesterday. Of all the pains making themselves known inside her body, she noted in particular her throat was severely irritated. She figured she must have taken possession of the karaoke microphone as she had vague recollections of singing before a large audience.

"You were so cute yesterday." Rick said as he pressed his lips to her shoulder.

"Did I sing?" She cautiously asked peering at him through half closed eyelids.

Rick chuckled, then grimaced at the affect it had on his head. "Yeah, you did. A lot." He stroked his palm over her hip, "You're so adorable when you cut loose like you did yesterday."

"Oh God." She took a deep breath. "Did you take photos?"

"And video."

"Oh God." Another deep breath and she covered her face in shame.

"At your request." Rick chuckled which caused her to laugh and then groan in pain.

"No."

"Yes, you were funny."

Kate sighed heavily and laid there a moment trying to recall her Sunday. Distracted by the movement of his bare body against her skin, a thought crossed her mind. It was an appealing thought too. "Sure we don't have five minutes." She tempted.

Rick's hand wandered to her tummy where it parked, just below her belly button, "We don't."

"Maybe …" Kate decided to challenge him about _that_ five minutes he said they didn't have. She knew he was powerless to her affection and advances. She wriggled around to face him staying within his embrace. Her eyes opened briefly to his drowsy dull blue eyes and she sleepily smiled and purred, "Good morning." She traced his eye brows with her finger tip.

Rick took a deep breath and as he exhaled, he murmured, "Morning." He smiled as her eyes closed again. She was incredibly cute when she was warm and sleep. It made him want to keep her in bed with him forever because once she was fully awake she became his tough independent and bossy Beckett. But he couldn't resist feeling the shape of her buttock and waist with his palm. He released an appreciative moan thinking about what they could do, but for now he dismissed it. Instead he stroked the side of her head, "We have to leave soon. A body is waiting for us."

"You sure we can't hang back five minutes?" She suggestively queried running her fingers down the left side of his chest, a girlie sound of approval escaping her over what she touched. His strong, firm muscles of his chest and shoulders really turned her on. "We could …."

He grunted in the negative, "I will need more than five minutes to crank up the way I feel."

"Are you sure you don't want to rethink that, Castle?"

Rick closed his eyes enjoying the tone of her voice, the feel of where her hands had wandered to. A groan of pure pleasure escaped him then, with some reluctance, he muttered to remind her, "There's been a murder."

Kate breathed deeper then looked from beneath the sheets to his eyes, "There could be a murder in here." She threatened and lifted herself high enough so she could kiss his lips. She had to get his mind in the mood, to catch up with his body that was responding appropriately.

He smiled when they parted then he gave her a kiss, released another moan, then said. "It will take more than that."

"Water?"

He found the bottle and passed it to her. "A bit more cranking is required. Let's go."

Kate took that to indicate he was a green light. She swallowed a few mouthfuls then returned to the bed. She wriggled down his body feeling his hands on her shoulders, then in her hair.

Still half asleep and thinking she wouldn't have it in her yet to have sex, Rick let her go. She made a trail of kisses and gentle sucks down his large chest, over his stomach and he rolled to his back a little to assist her. It was totally unexpected when she took all of him inside her mouth. His eyes opened wide and he peered beneath the sheets to see her dark eyes glistening cheekily up at his. He couldn't help but release a moan of approval but he was pretty sure this wasn't going to end well.

Castle was right.

Slightly short of an hour later they arrived at the scene squinting at the flashing lights of police and paramedic vehicles. It was brutal on their eyes. But the sun wasn't Rick's only problem right now. The Crown Vic's driver's side door slammed shut causing Rick to cringe in pain. He shook it off and got out of the vehicle, closing the passenger door with far less muscle strength than his very frustrated feminine and pissed off partner had used. He then cautiously progressed to the front of the vehicle to meet Kate there. She brushed a bit of leaf off her coat then directed her impatient expression to him. The way she narrowed her eyes when she was angry was so cute. She was adorable when she was pissed off. He just preferred it be directed at someone else.

This morning, living with the hangover from hell, Beckett was on fire and a little short fused. She had stood in the shower for quite a long time that morning trying to sober up, because once she had become vertical, she had felt the effects of the alcohol. He'd passed Kate a couple of painkillers and her first mug of coffee into the shower with her.

Luckily for Rick, his body overcame hangovers reasonably fast and he only needed the dark sunglasses he wore and another strong cup of coffee. The latter he desperately craved for and then he would be feeling right again. Kate's moods he had learned to ignore years ago. She had been serious about enjoying the quickie in bed earlier but because certain personal wants hadn't been satisfied by him, Kate had refused to drop into a drive thru coffee store to satisfy his need for that extra dose of caffeine. She could be very stubborn.

He secretly smiled to himself with satisfaction when he realized that Beckett would have to wait a lot longer for what she desired than he would for another coffee. She would cave in soon for another cup of coffee. Being the man he was, Castle openly admitted he needed more than the five minutes they had that morning, to be fully satisfied with Beckett in bed. A preference for taking his time with her was perfectly alright with Beckett most of the time. By the time he did eventuate to meeting his obligations later that evening, it was a sure thing his partner would be driving him crazy with want. Once the hangovers were a thing of the past for them, it would be foreplay heaven all afternoon and he looked forward to it. Seducing and teasing Beckett was one of his favourite activities.

"We could have done it even if we only had that five or so minutes." Kate stated as she stood face to face with him at the front of the car, continuing their banter from moments earlier.

Rick smiled. It was uncanny, like she could read his mind, his thoughts. "I was thinking about that Beckett. You know I like to take my time to enjoy you." He replied smugly and instantly saw her react. She tried her damnedest to hold back a smile but it escaped and her cheeks blushed a fraction. He waved a finger at her his boyish charm oozing out of him, "Yeah, you know I do."

In the high heeled black leather boots she wore that day she was almost six feet tall and she let him know it. She leaned in glaring into his sunglasses. "We could have had a quickie," she hissed.

Castle played along and closed the space between them, placing his face close to her right ear, "Yeah we could have enjoyed a quickie," he cleared his throat, "But we didn't and that's gonna agitate you all day isn't it? I didn't scratch your itch." Rick stood back then unconsciously reached out and pushed a loose strand of hair off her face. She had left her hair disheveled, had loosely tied it back into a careless ponytail because she hadn't bothered to dry and style it. He liked the unkempt appearance. She looked so adorable all messed up and mentally disheveled. He half smiled at her, "I don't know about you, Beckett, but because we hit the booze yesterday harder than we ever have since we've known each other, I'm not feeling my usual perky self and neither is my friend." He pointed downwards.

Kate smiled, "Yeah, it was a big day for that." She couldn't argue with him about their day out.

"So," He stepped closer to her so she was the only person who heard him, softly bumping her shoulder with his upper arm. "I need a bit of time between the last drink and you know…." His eyes flickered from her eyes to her groin, seeking sympathy from her. Instead, he was shot with a look of exasperation. He made every effort to hold back the burst of laughter inside him. She really was sexually frustrated. He loved it!

She followed it up with a disgruntled grunt at his poor excuse for not performing, "C'mon Castle, are you telling me that you couldn't …."

"What? Hell no!" He strongly objected. "Not that at all."

"Well, you made every excuse…"

"You were there! You felt it!" He objected with a glare. He read her expression and saw she was trying her hardest not to let her lips smile. "Oh, I know, you're jerking my chain, Beckett!"

"No I'm not." She objected, "You said you couldn't ..." she glanced around her to ensure their conversation remain private, then whispered, "Get it up," glancing to his groin.

"No! I didn't say that!" Rick glared at Kate, who narrowed her eyes like a cat toying with a mouse.

Her eyelashes fluttered as her gaze returned to his eyes. Her fingers played with the collar of his shirt as she leaned into him. She purred, "You were doing perfectly fine where I was …" She moistened her lips.

Rick cleared his throat, held his breath. Sexy. "Yeah, that was good." He finally said, "But I'm just saying I would rather not be going through _that_ motion with a squeamish stomach." He smiled crookedly glancing to her lips, "What you did was great."

Kate released a giggle as her imagination pictured what she had done to Rick earlier, and then, what she wanted him to do to her later.

"What?" He asked suspiciously.

"Nothing Castle." She commenced to walk toward the yellow police tape and Rick hurried after her.

"Kate, tell me."

"I just have an image of you I can't un-see." She stirred knowing full well he wouldn't leave her alone about it. He was so easy to tease.

"C'mon Kate. What were you thinking?"

"Never mind. I've forgotten it."

"You said you couldn't un-see it."

She paused in her stride and looked down then up his entire body with a secretive smile. "I can't say here." She turned serious. "We're at a crime scene." She ducked under the yellow tape one of the uniforms held up for them. They continued along the sidewalk with Rick pestering Kate to tell him what she had been thinking. They soon approached the crime scene, where they stopped by the corpse that was awkwardly positioned. Rick was reminded of a puppet that had been dropped. The medical examiner, Dr Lanie Parish, was crouched beside the alleged victim. The body was a male in his early thirties and had obviously died when his head had unceremoniously and suddenly met with the concrete pavement. It also appeared he had broken his neck on impact.

"Morning Dr Parish." Castle greeted cheerfully even under the estranged circumstances.

"Morning." Kate mumbled rubbing her thumb and index over her forehead. She was feeling queasy and the sight of the crushed in skull wasn't helping one bit. In fact she felt worse.

Dr Parish gazed up at her two friends squinting in the sun's glare, "Richard Castle. Where's your coffee? You look like you both could really do with plenty of it this morning."

"Beckett denied us a caffeine fix when she refused to go to a drive through as apparently we had enough of it at home this morning."

Lanie grinned with the realisation her two close friends had been doing some serious time with the alcohol, "Are you two are seriously hung over?"

"I don't think seriously captures the real picture of what we did with alcohol yesterday." Kate replied shamelessly.

Rick boyishly grinned gazing about the scene, "She did me proud yesterday, Lanie. She certainly drank me under the table."

"I told you years ago not to mess with Beckett and the booze."

"I know. I had to give it a shot though. It was fun." He replied as he studied the messy corpse Lanie was working on. He peered upwards then back to Lanie who was crouched over the awkwardly splayed victim. "It really is a broken puppet situation." He said then noticed that Kate stared at him clearly confused by his mutterings. He waved his hand telling her not to worry. "Do you think he swan dived, Lanie?" Rick glanced again at Beckett who had dismissed his puppet reference.

"I'm not sure Castle." The doctor replied.

Rick rapidly observed that Kate was too busy internally analysing her own current state of health. She appeared gravely ill. What colour had been in her cheeks a minute earlier was long gone. He figured it was the sight of the messed up head of the victim that had caused her stomach to churn. He chose to ignore her discomfort as he shared the pain and felt as crook as she looked. It was, after all, self-inflicted. Instead, he waved his fingers toward the corpse's head, "He certainly made a mess of his noggin."

"Castle."

He smiled at the tone of warning he'd copped from Kate, and glanced to Lanie who narrowed her eyes at him knowing what he was up to. He ignored the women and gazed upward to the apartments over them where the dead guy had fallen from. He recognised Ryan on a third floor balcony waving down and gave him a smile and wave back with his right arm. Castle's focus returned to the body particularly the hands as he wondered whether the guy was married. Marriage could have caused him to jump. He saw the gloves.

"Why is he wearing latex gloves?" He pointed a finger at the dead man's left hand.

"Got no idea Castle, that's why we have investigators," Lanie replied glancing up to Rick who looked more than a little rough for wear. He hadn't shaved and he was a little darker than usual beneath his eyes.

"Oh hang on, that's our job," he smugly replied giving Kate a light nudge to bring her back to the present.

"I think Ryan might have some answers up there already," Parish commented as they all gazed up to him. "After all, he was here bright an early without a hangover."

"Mmm," Kate looked back at the body, particularly the guy's head that was cracked wide open. She blinked away the awfulness of the sight of the dead man, "So Lanie, what we got this morning besides smart ass cracks all round?"

Rick snorted.

"Sweetie, I'm not sure whether this one is for you yet. He died from a sudden smack to his dome."

"Got that bit," Kate's nose twitched in disgust at the smells emanating from the dead man. The sight of the dead man's skull and the angle at which his head was positioned relative to his body was very disturbing. There was a pool of congealing blood on the concrete where he had hit the ground. It hadn't been a pleasant ending for the guy who lay dead on the sidewalk. It wasn't a pleasant beginning to the day for Kate's stomach either.

"Good to see you decided to arrive." Ryan shouted down with a grin and a wave. Rick and Kate's eyes shot up to the balcony. "He fell from where Ryan is?" Kate asked Lanie.

"Seems like it. Ryan's only just made it up there. The boys have been trying to find the right apartment."

Rick cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered back up, "Morning to you too, Ryan. I thought you called us in on a homicide. We don't do suicide." He dropped his hands then looked to Kate, "This looks more like a jumper to me."

"Seriously?" Kate asked, glancing between the balcony where Ryan was and the ground. "Not far enough," she said then shouted up to Ryan, "Jumper, Kev?"

"No one would risk jumping from the third floor when there are seventeen higher ones to choose from." Ryan yelled down then when he saw he had everyone's attention on the ground, he turned and pointed up at the height of the apartment building. He looked back at them. "We have to make sure he wasn't helped over the side."

Castle and Beckett tilted back their heads and gazed up at the building both of them squinting into the brightness of the day, their heads smarting from their hangovers. Kate blinked hard, feeling the pain. The sun light penetrated the depths of her brain via her eyes. Her gut was squeamish, "God that hurts," she mumbled so only Rick would hear. "Never again."

"Yeah, I feel your pain." He glanced at Kate. She was severely hung over and worse than when they left the loft. "Ryan has a point. I feel like jumping from the twentieth floor to put myself out of misery this morning. How much did we drink?"

"Too much." Kate firmly replied. "I should have brought my sunglasses. It's hellish out here in the brightness, very glary."

"Tell me about it. I should have stayed home." At least he'd had the sense to pick up his sunglasses on the way out of the loft that morning.

"As my partner, as well as my drinking partner, it's your obligation to suffer with me, Buddy." She smirked sucking in her cheeks to stop the giggle that was straining to get out. It wasn't the place for wise cracks. "Don't you have that sense of obligation?"

"No, not really" He replied. "But next time, remind me never to go to a millionaire's wedding on a Sunday afternoon again, especially one offering a free open bar."

"I'll remind you."

"Oh! And add to those conditions, you being with me as my drinking buddy." In order to assess the situation before them further, he once again looked up to where Ryan was standing on the balcony. That's when he sighted the rifle. "Kate!" He pointed up into the tree, the hangover forgotten. "You see that?"

Kate followed his pointing hand and soon saw the rifle hanging from a branch by the shoulder strap of the rifle. "I see it. Now this is getting interesting." She cleared her throat as it was a little irritated. It must have been because of her numerous performances at the karaoke last night. She called up to the balcony with a raspy voice, "Ryan, what's that hanging from the tree?" Her voice gave out on her a bit. She glanced to Rick. "Karaoke?"

"Lana del Ray was your poison."

"Oh, really?"

"Really." With great fondness of his fiancé's little quirks he recalled her performances and attraction to microphones the evening before. "Summertime Sadness was your favourite. That had a couple of encores at home. I would never have thought…"

"Mmm." She suddenly smiled and felt her cheeks blush with self- consciousness when a flashes of her behaviour with Castle the evening before hit her memory. "I'm pretty sure I got my heavenly baby," she whispered. "I remember those bits."

Rick smirked devilishly at her, "I know." It was whispered back with a secret smile and a communication passing between them that only lovers could share. "Is there such a thing as too much karaoke?" Rick queried seconds later as they watched Ryan turn about and search for what Castle and Beckett were keenly pointing at.

"Apparently not."

"You were quite attached to the microphone. I had to apply pressure to pry it from you so other people could play."

"Shut up, Rick." She replied shooting him a cheeky look that caused him to smirk.

"Yeah, I know. You were having fun."

"Kate, were you singing Karaoke last night?" Lanie was being a wise ass. "Girl! You must have been as pissed as hell."

Rick grinned nodded at Lanie, "Oh, she was, Lanie. But can she sing when she's drunk! I was just telling her Lana del Ray was her choice of poison." Rick pointed to his right to give Ryan an idea of where they were looking. "How come he can't see that rifle?"

"Public performance?" Lanie inquired recalling the nights she and Kate had spent on stage singing Karaoke in the past. Lanie didn't drink much at all but for Kate she wouldn't sing on stage unless she was drinking.

"Yup, public, then she fired up the Xbox in the office when we arrived home and bashed out a few golden oldies for an audience of one."

"Castle," Kate croaked.

"Yes, just me," Rick answered choosing to ignore the fact Kate was actually telling him to be quiet.

Ryan finally sighted the rifle and yelled out that he saw it. Seconds later he shouted down to them, "That looks like a M4 carbine rifle, Castle."

"Are you able to reach it without doing the same thing this guy did, Ryan?" Rick asked because from their angle it was difficult to determine the distance and depth of field between Ryan and the rifle.

Ryan leaned over and reached as far as he could manage over the side of the balcony, but he was a long way off getting near the gun. Once he was reaching, from the ground the others could easily see that even a guy the height of Rick wouldn't be able to reach it. The rifle was precariously hooked by a nylon shoulder strap to an extreme branch of the tree and was barely staying there. If it were windy the rifle's weight would cause it to have fallen by now. Ryan glanced between the rifle and Castle and with a laugh he shouted down to the group on the sidewalk staring up the tree, "Not a chance that I could reach that, Castle."

"We can see that." Rick glanced about for something they could use to lift it down. They didn't want to risk it dropping for fear it could hit the ground and go off, perhaps inadvertently shoot someone.

Ryan whistled to gain Esposito's attention. He looked up familiar with his partner's summoning sound.

"What's up?" Esposito shifted from where he had been with Lanie for a couple of seconds to stand beside Beckett. The three of them peered up at the rifle.

"Espo! We need to phone in the fire department to come down and pull this rifle out of the tree."

"Roger that!"

"Do we have an id on this guy, Espo?" Kate asked.

"No. Nothing on him. No identification. He had a phone up in the apartment."

"Burner phone?" Castle asked.

"Of course." Espo furrowed his brow as he studied both of them, "You two been on the turps? You look like shit!"

"Geez. One day on the grog and everyone knows about it," Kate groaned dropping her shoulders in resignation.

"Maybe if you had spread the same amount of alcohol over a month or so no one would have noticed," Espo replied.

Kate grunted, but couldn't deny Esposito's comment. What they had consumed in one afternoon and evening could have easily been spread over a month. But right now she needed to concentrate on the job. There had already been more than enough banter about alcohol consumption that morning. "Obvious question here guys, is what was he doing with a rifle on the third floor balcony?"

Rick's gaze went upward as his brain ticked over to answer Beckett's question. He then looked across the street. "Do you think he accidentally fell off the balcony? Was he trying to take out someone?"

Beckett and Esposito turned circles searching to locate the direction a hit man on that balcony would have been aiming. The three of them all finished in the one sort of area then glanced to each other.

Kate pointed to where Ryan was but looked down at the body, "Let's go have a look from what was his perspective, shall we?" She suggested taking a last distasteful scan of the man's corpse. "If he's not a victim, then we need to find who his intended victim was."

Rick looked further afield at the members of the public held behind the police lines. "Yes, before the next hit man comes."

"And finds a bunch of cops staring up into a tree like last time," Esposito finished.

The three of them shared a chuckle about the last time they pulled a dead guy out of a tree.

They progressed inside the apartment building. On the way, Esposito called the fire department to request they dispatch a truck with a cherry picker in order to safely retrieve the rifle.

They rode in a rickety old elevator which was virtually a caged box surrounded by the stair case. They got off at the third floor and the men followed along the corridor. The apartment was being guarded by a uniform who stood outside the door way. As they passed him to enter the apartment they slipped on latex gloves.

Rick stood by the kitchen counter and glanced about, "The apartment's basically empty of furniture and personal belongings. There's nothing Beckett."

"It's vacant of any personal or other items." She stated as she walked through the kitchen which was bare of any utensils and the recess for the fridge was empty. Not even a microwave or kettle adorned the bench top. "Place is bare, Castle."

Castle inspected inside the cupboards and drawers, "Yep, place is empty. There are no signs of food preparation. Not even a bowl, cutlery or mug."

Kate drummed her gloved fingers on the kitchen counter, thinking. When she stopped she made eye contact with Esposito who had been fishing about inside a duffel bag on the floor. "What you got there Espo?"

"His duffel bag. The other is a custom made rifle case. The M4 would be disassembled to fit in it. The rifle had a rather short barrel. I think it was probably the twelve inch one. That's too short to be legal. It would be classified as an NFA weapon and need special registration and a permit from the ATF. I doubt he had either. I need to take a closer look at it when I get it out of the tree. If I'm right, the rifle suggests this guy was a pro."

"In the meantime would you have a talk with the building manager and find out who this place is leased by, whether it is leased? We also need to get the CSI guys in here to search for fingerprints."

"Sure," he replied and pointed at the bag. "He wasn't planning on being here for long. All his belongings and wastes are in that bag."

"I'll get CSI techs to examine it."

"Sure. I'll go find the building manager." He disappeared out the doorway.

Beckett and Castle progressed to the living area where they inspected the duffel bag for any signs of identification.

"Castle, would you hold the bag please?"

"Sure." He held it at waist height while she searched through it. She shook the coffee cup to ensure there wasn't anything inside it other than the remains of coffee.

"I could sure do with one of those," she murmured.

"Me too."

"What is this?" She found the box of latex gloves and the compartment where used gloves were stored.

"He wore gloves in the apartment so he didn't leave finger prints, Beckett."

"I think so. Can you smell the coffee?"

He chuckled, "You really are desperate."

"I am. Hungry too."

"I tell you what, when we're finished here, there's a great diner around the corner that serves gigantic breakfasts and the largest take out cups of coffee I've ever seen. I will take you there and you can order the entire menu if you're that hungry."

"Good. Can't wait but do you really think I will eat that much?"

"I've seen your appetite Honey, and you will eat. I know you. May look small and all but you can eat." He held back a smile waiting for her response.

She scoffed at his comment as she lifted out a paperback novel. "I don't eat that much." She quietly remarked turning the book over. She already knew it was a Derrick Storm novel and which one it was but flipped it over to indulge Rick's ego. She stared at Rick with a look, "Seriously?"

Rick shrugged his shoulders, indifferent, "Hope he finished it. Would hate to die without know what happened."

"Hope you weren't giving him any ideas."

"You've read it,"

"Mmm. No new ideas in it and there's nothing in this bag. But wait." She peeked in a side pocket as a mischievous smile warmed her face.

"What is it?"

Kate looked at Rick's inquisitive eyes and flashed him a pink sticky note with a phone number jotted on it. "Ryan?" The volume and tone of her voice had Rick flinch. She squinted in response to his pain, "Sorry, buddy," she offered him with a softer tone.

"Just remember, hangover," Rick murmured so Ryan couldn't hear as he appeared from the balcony in response to Kate's call.

"Yeah?"

"Would you find out what this phone number is for please?" She waved the piece of paper in the air as she continued to search the last section of the duffel bag. "What's this?" Kate pulled out a small photograph and flipped it over to see the picture. She saw a pretty young woman with long dark hair, a big smile and large brown eyes. She was quite attractive. She showed it to Rick who raised an eyebrow with interest. "Pretty girl."

"I agree. Girlfriend perhaps?" Rick took the picture from Kate and turned it over to see if anything was written on the back of it. The picture had been printed on a home printer. "She looks a little like you."

"Similar complexion, perhaps more like the younger version of me," Kate agreed. By the time Ryan had approached her with an evidence bag Kate had finished searching through the duffel bag. She showed Ryan the phone number then slipped the Post it note into the plastic evidence bag.

Ryan sealed the zip lock then studied the number. "It's local and we might get prints off it too." He muttered mostly to himself. Another bag was taken out and opened it for Rick to slip the photo in. He too looked at it. "Girlfriend?" He suggested.

"Could be."

"I guess we will find out soon enough." Ryan strolled off in the general direction of the kitchen tapping busily on his iPhone in order to make the call that would have the jotted phone number identified.

Kate indicated to Rick with a wave of her hand that he could let go of the bag as she was satisfied there was nothing else in it that would benefit them now. "The CSI team would take it with them and have it thoroughly analysed at the lab." She stated.

"There's nothing in the rifle bag worthy of studying." Rick said as he discarded it on the floor.

Kate followed Rick to an old brown couch which was the only piece of furniture in the apartment besides the upturned blue milk crate. Kate picked up the cell phone on the milk crate that Ryan had left for them to inspect. He already had it bagged. They noted the phone was locked but they could hear crackling sounds coming from it.

"Is that a radio playing?"

"I don't know, Castle." She unzipped the zip lock so they could hear it better.

They listened and heard the sounds of an apartment. "He has bugged whoever he's been spying on, Kate."

"Is there an app for that?"

"Sure there is. There's and app for everything." Rick looked outside the open door way in search of the obvious apartment the dead guy would have been spying on.

"Doesn't sound like they are home but they're somewhere close."

Rick listened to the phone and was soon rewarded by the sounds of footfall on floorboards. There were noises of someone shuffling through stuff. It stopped and then a door closed. Rick carried it with him as he closely followed Kate outside onto the balcony. Ryan met them as he finished up a telephone conversation.

"Beckett, this phone number belongs to the Hotel Addison around the corner."

"It's a pokey place," Rick commented, "About two blocks up. Can rent a room by the hour there, Beckett."

"That's it." Ryan confirmed.

"Maybe he was staying there. Ryan, could you get a photo of our victim slash sniper slash jumper and flash it around the hotel? See what you can find. Better take Espo with you." She said half watching the expression that passed between Rick and Kevin. The men were having a silent joke about Kate's terminology. She smiled cheekily, "Did you like that, boys?"

Both men grinned, "I did, Beckett. A resemblance of Dr Suess on your tongue this morning," Castle remarked, rolling his shoulders to loosen them up. He was surprised by Kate's wittiness when he considered how much alcohol she had consumed the day before and how much he'd had to hold her up on their way from the taxi to the loft. By the time they had returned home, Kate had done the walk of shame wearing a very lovely dress, her clutch bag in her hand and heels dangling from her fingers, her hair and make-up all messed up. It was the first time he'd seen her have so much fun and get rotten drunk on the same day. He was proud of her in a bad sort of way.

"Mmm, a little bit," She answered and glanced to Ryan, "We need to get a correct title for him to determine whether it's us that stays on this case."

"True. Gates won't want us working on a non-murder case, wasting valuable homicide time," Ryan commented, mimicking their Captain. "I'll go get that photo and see if the FD guys have shown up with their toys to get the rifle down."

Rick and Kate gazed after Ryan has he hurried from the apartment, both of them feeling the weight of Sunday on them. They turned to each other. Kate said, "I really need to eat soon, Castle." She held her stomach.

"Nausea?" He screwed up his face, and pointed to a bathroom.

She nodded, "Yeah. Really hungry. I missed breakfast."

Rick wandered off towards the sliding door, as he replied, "Me too." He briefly examined the area inside then glanced back to Kate who was right behind him, "We'll go for breakfast once we're finished here." He stepped out onto the balcony, squinting in the sunlight again.

"Sounds like a plan. I'm motivated. Go to that place you mentioned." She stepped out onto the balcony after Rick had. They looked around the balcony that didn't offer them anything other than the view the dead guy had had before he fell off it. Kate peered over the edge to where the body still lay on the concrete. Lanie was about to have the bagged body lifted to a gurney by her assistants. "You know, Castle, I would have climbed to the roof to end it rather than do it from here." She squinted into the sky as she looked up the side of the building and gave herself a nod.

Rick peered over the edge and gave it a quick assessment. "Me too. The probability of surviving a fall from the height of this third floor is quite possible but the injuries would almost be insufferable. He was pushed or he slipped." Rick turned about and commenced to look at the situation in the bigger picture rather than just the evidence they had to hand so far. He considered the surrounding apartments and something became clearly apparent to him. His hand blindly reached to Kate's upper arm that he gently tapped as his other hand pointed in the direction of the apartment over the road. "There, Beckett," he quietly said, "His target was someone in that apartment." Growing a little excited, Rick placed a foot on the railing and leaned over searching through the branches of the great bare tree. He was absolutely certain the apartment one storey below them across the street was the focal point of the dead man's attention. He stepped back to the balcony and turned to Kate, "We have two possible scenarios here."

"Go on." She stopped to listen to Castle. It also crossed her mind how good he looked that morning even with a hangover.

Rick noticed an odd expression transition its way over Kate's face, very briefly but it was there. It made him want to check his shirt for a stain but he refrained from doing so and concentrated on what he was about to say. "Well, he was either pushed or he accidentally fell off the balcony trying to get a sure shot through the tree. As he fell his rifle must have been flung in that direction where it inadvertently got snagged in the branch."

"What the…?" Kate and Rick did a bit of a shuffling dance in order to manoeuvre Kate to a position where she had the same sight line as Rick. She accomplished this by standing in front of him. His hands rested firmly upon her shoulders and guided her to the correct position to see what he could. She looked down to their right to the ground where the body had been. She then turned her attention to where the rifle was snagged and finally to the apartment over the road. The balcony across the street was quite long with windows and two glass sliding doors running the entire length of the apartment. One door must have come from a bedroom and the other a living room. "A lot of glass and two doorways."

"Spacious apartment. Long rather than deep," Rick commented. They couldn't see inside because of the combined sunlight and reflective glass. Kate scanned the balcony they stood on. It was only a maximum of about two metres in length and big enough for two chairs and a modest table. If they had an alleged sniper attack, it would be impossible to shoot a target from anywhere left of where they stood on the balcony as the tree's main branches were between the apartments preventing a clear shot.

"At a close guess, in the boots you are wearing you're about the same height as the guy who fell off," Rick said close to Kate's ear and he pointed over her shoulder at the apartment. "The apartment directly over it is too high for you to shoot anyone and this tree is an even greater obstruction."

"And the one below it is too low."

"Nothing to the left or right." He saw her nod her head in agreement. "We can't see in there now …"

"But when it was still dark, this guy would have had a clear view into that apartment, especially if the lights were on," Kate finished her mouth curling into a small smile of satisfaction. She loved it when they thought the same. Her heart quickened a little. It was their secret bonding, their special chemistry. She felt his hand lightly squeeze her shoulder in acknowledgement and in her peripheral vision saw his grin.

"Yes. He must have leaned over too far, perhaps slipped and fell or somebody else pushed him. There's nothing here to indicate a struggle, even if there had been."

They watched over the balcony as the fire department utilised their cherry picker to collect the rifle. Espo was inside the box ready to retrieve the rifle.

Kate stood on the bottom railing of the balcony, "Castle, I wouldn't be able to make a clear shot from here. Maybe he needed to put a leg over to get a clearer shot."

"True, but don't you try it." Rick warned and held her left upper arm. He glanced over to see the body was bagged and on its way into the medical examiner's van. "He's not there anymore to cushion your landing."

"Funny, Castle." She stepped down and stared over at the other apartment. She strolled along the length of the balcony taking Rick with her. "Who was he trying to kill?" She asked as though thinking aloud.

"Dunno. But we need to go door knocking."

Kate's cell phone rang in her hand. She glanced to it. "It's Espo." She said and answered it looking toward the fire truck. He was already out of the cherry picker and on the ground somewhere. She searched for him. "Espo, what you got?" She couldn't locate him. She gave up the search, moved closer to Rick switching the iPhone to speaker so he could listen in.

"The weapon is a suppressed civilian M4 chambered in three hundred Blackout, single point sling, holographic red dot sight which was switched on, ten round magazine with hand loaded two hundred and twenty grain subsonic hollow point ammo. Oh, the guy was either military or a professional hit man and knew his weapons. It has a twelve inch barrel and no serial number. If he'd left it someplace or had to ditch it there would be no way to trace it. The suppressor looks home made and it also has no serial number on it. The selector was set to fire when he fell."

"We think he slipped." Rick said.

"Something fucked up for him." Esposito replied, "This was too well laid out."

"Agreed."

Kate glanced to Rick before she said into phone, "So if he's a hired hit man then we have to find who hired him and who had motive and who his target was," Kate saw Rick nod his agreement, "Anything else guys?"

Ryan spoke this time, "The apartment is rented out to a bogus name. Castle, you will like this one."

"Give it to me, Buddy," Rick requested looking at Kate's eyes in anticipation.

"Fred Bassett." Ryan stated. Kate and Rick stared at each other, listening to the boys snicker.

Rick grinned, "Whoa! Seriously?" He chuckled.

"Well, at least it wasn't Jack Sparrow for once." Espo remarked.

"The Manager said that quote Mr Bassett unquote, paid the bond and three months' rent with cash. The building manager hasn't seen him since but he said he's seen Splatt nearly every morning leaving around eight twenty, going to work. Said he kept to himself and was quiet."

"He was aiming to shoot someone in the apartment across the way. Castle and I are gonna go find out who lives in the apartment we believe it is. Are you and Ryan going to the hotel?"

"We are."

"We'll see you back at the Precinct." She hung up.

"Let's go, Kate. The boys have it under control."

Kate followed Rick back inside the apartment. They checked about them a little longer and once they were sure that they were on the right track with the dead guy being a hit man they left the apartment to follow their evidence.

_If you want me to keep posting, let me know via PM or Reviews. _


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - The victim's apartment**

"I'd rather live on this side of the street." Rick commented gazing about their surroundings as they waited outside the apartment for someone to answer the doorbell. It was quite an improvement from the apartment building they had evacuated only minutes earlier. Shabbiness was fine but Rick personally preferred the smarter, more impressive décor of the hall way they stood in now.

Kate glanced over Rick's face then about them at the neat well maintained hall way, "Yeah, me too." She checked the time, 8.38 am. Thirteen seconds. Long enough. Impatient as always, she pressed hard on the doorbell again. She also checked the time again. It was still 8.38 am. "Maybe they've gone to work."

"Give them a second or two, Beckett." Rick requested unable to understand her impatience at times.

"I did. I gave them thirteen."

"Exactly my point," he retorted and caught her by the wrist before she pressed the bell again. "Wait," he ordered. Kate pursed her lips but dropped her hand. She tapped the toe of her right boot on the floor as she waited out another ten seconds. Her narrowed eyes stared at Rick's but he refused to look at her. When he finally nodded his consent she pressed the bell.

"No one is home," she muttered, heavily hinting they were wasting valuable time that could be otherwise spent doing better things such as eating breakfast.

"Yeah," Rick agreed, "With all the action over the road? I would have still been at …."

"That's you, Rick. Some of us have to go to work." She cut in knowing full well he would have stayed home to watch the activities over the road. "In fact I'm sure you would have been out of the balcony with a bowl of popcorn and a cold one."

Rick grinned, "Probably, until I realised I was the target."

They fell silent both listening for any life inside. No one answered the doorbell and not a sound came from within the apartment.

Kate took that breath of air that told Rick enough time had passed, "C'mon, let's go find out who lives in the apartment." She noted the brass number on the door before she turned. With long determined strides she headed down the hallway toward the stairs ahead of him. He hurried to catch up. They clumped down the stairs and on the ground floor they soon found the office of building manager.

Kate banged on the door with the side of her closed fist. Rick fidgeted fully aware she needed to eat real soon. The patience level had significantly dropped after they had left the other apartment. A brief telephone conversation with Captain Gates down on the street had drastically darkened Beckett's mood. Gates didn't want man power wasted on a case if it wasn't a homicide. In Gates' opinion the death was an accident and the department that looked after those cases should have been there to take over Beckett's team. However, powers that be had ordered Beckett's team remain on the case until it was confirmed his death was an accident. Kate had hung up on the call and muttered something about it now being a case where someone needed to be protected and she wasn't going to be the cop that walked away from the case that could turn into a murder. She wanted out of the case but felt obligated to see it through to help protect a potential victim.

Kate rapped on the door again.

"Wait already!" Was gruffly shouted from inside the office.

Kate rolled her eyes at Rick who calmly said, "Steady, Beckett."

The door was flung open. Kate jumped in surprise. Rick chuckled at her reaction.

"Who's banging?" The voice boomed from a tall figure in the doorway. They both recoiled at the sight and sound of the man who appeared. He was way beyond sixty, towered over Rick's height and wore a face only his mother could love.

Kate held back a cringe and pursed her lips. Quickly, she composed herself and pushed her badge forward to the old man's face. She was never drinking so much alcohol again. Her nerves were shot to hell. Through gritted teeth she declared, "NYPD, Detective Beckett." She then pointed an index finger at Rick, "This is my partner, Mr Castle." She dropped the hand that held the badge figuring the old man had had enough time to view it. "You are the building manager, right?"

"Yes I am."

"And your name is?" Kate pressed to ensure she controlled the conversation. She flipped her badge over to make us of a little note pad and produced a pen from her right coat pocket.

The man shrunk back a little glancing between the two strangers who stood at the doorway. "My name is Duncan Brown. I'm the building manager."

Kate scribbled his name down then as she spoke she put everything away, "Thank you Mr Brown. We'd like to know who lives in Apartment two zero nine. Please." She glanced to Rick wondering whether he was feeling as edgy as she was.

Rick caught her look but mainly thought about the manner in which she had added the _please_ at the end. It was rather cute, considering the demanding way she'd vocalised the rest of her words. He glanced between the manager and Kate, amused by the manager's rebuff over the manner in which Kate treated him. Rick noticed the old man's expression softened as he assessed the pair before him. He must have sensed Kate was more bark than bite as he didn't seem overly concerned by her behaviour.

"Apartment two zero nine you said?"

"That's correct." Kate affirmed.

Rick smirked. The old guy was playing Kate, pretending he hadn't listened properly to her.

The building manager sniffed loudly then muttered. "Two zero nine."

Kate cringed with disgust. "That's the one."

"Well, that would be Tony Perri's apartment. He lives there and sometimes he had women there."

"Tony Perri?"

"That's right Detective. But they ain't home. It's Monday so they've left for work."

"Are you sure about that?"

"I saw them leave. Of course I'm sure."

Kate pursed her lips.

Rick took over the conversation once he was positive Kate wasn't going to get anything out of the building manager. He held his hand up to Kate to keep quiet a second, "Mr Brown, the NYPD is concerned about Mr Perri's well being. Would you have a phone number that we can contact Mr Perri on? We need to ensure he's safe."

"Is this about that guy falling off the balcony this morning?"

"Yes. Yes that's exactly what it's about." Rick nodded and smiled, his friendly smile. "The police need to ascertain that Mr Perri and his girlfriend …. What did you say her name was?"

"I didn't. I don't know it. He changes girlfriends more than I change my underwear."

_Oh Christ!_ Rick flinched and peripherally saw Kate dry retch over that response. Too soon today for that sort of imagery.

Rick pressed him, "Do you have Mr Perri's contact details, please."

"I'll get it. Wait here a minutes," he gruffly ordered and slammed the door on their faces.

The pair glanced at each other. Kate's frazzled nerves caused her body to jump at the noise of the door. Castle released a heavy sigh. "He could use a better brand of coffee," he quietly remarked wiping his nose. He gave a well mannered sniff and peered at the ceiling. "The ceiling could do with a fresh lick of paint.

"Mmmm, maybe use air freshener and incorporate the use of personal deodorant into his personal hygiene too. He could really do with some," she whispered. "I feel nauseas."

"Mmmm. It's a bit off. A breath mint would help."

"A bit? I don't know whether a mouth wash could help." Kate kept vigil on the door handle. "Is my nose over sensitive this morning?"

"It might be."

"I think so."

"But it's the amount of alcohol you drank that is making you feel sick."

"Won't argue with that. Doesn't stop me smellin …." It paid to keep a watch on the handle. The door opened again without warning cutting Kate off mid-sentence. The door wasn't opened as hard as it had been the first time. The manager held out his arm and when Kate reached up he shoved a piece of paper into her hand.

"There's his contact numbers. Is that all?" He gruffly inquired.

"For now," Kate replied as she scanned the paper. The manager had provided Perri's cell, home and work phone numbers.

"Thanks," Rick said scanning the paper over Kate's shoulder. Satisfied, he started toward the door way as the manager closed the door once again. "Let's go get a coffee."

"I'll phone Perri on the way. I'll get the unies to pick him up and take him to the Precinct." Kate hurried after Rick. On their way over the street to the car, they saw that Lanie had left with the body and the CSI unit was finishing up their job. They boys were gone. Beckett and Castle didn't stop to talk to anyone and Kate passed Rick the keys so he could drive. That way she could make the phone calls on the way to the café.


	4. Chapter 4

_This chapter is a play of personalities and sub-stories; a chance for me to explore real situations, emotions and different types of conflict._

…**..**

**Chapter 4 – Breakfast break**

On their drive back to the Precinct, Castle and Beckett swung by the cafe Rick had suggested for a sit down breakfast. Both were unable to deny their bodies of nourishment any longer. While they waited for the breakfast orders to be served, they gulped down glasses of water from the large glass jug Rick had ordered for the table. Their thirst quenching reminded Castle of Discovery channel documentaries showing drought stricken animals who had found water holes only hours before they would have otherwise perished. The animals drank until their bellies were full and that exactly how Castle felt as he finished his fourth glass. He wiped his mouth his thirst finally satisfied.

As Kate quenched her thirst she finally got the call through to Tony Perri to explain the risky situation he was in. After a few minutes of explaining why he needed to attend the 12th Precinct she finally got his attention and compliance to work with the NYPD. She then made a call back to the dispatch to arrange for uniforms to pick Perri up at his place of work and escort him to the Precinct. Once she was certain that Perri would be within the safety of the Precinct by about 10.30 am, she called Captain to update her on the case. Listening only to Kate's side of the conversation, it was easy for Castle to hear Kate was keen to get off the case now they had Perri in safe custody. He could also understand by her facial expressions that Gates was instructing Beckett to stay on the case until the ME ascertained that Benson had accidentally fallen to his death. Kate hung up on the call put the phone on the table and pursed her lips at Rick.

"We're not off the case." She stated.

"Did she say why?"

"Until the ME announces Benson's of death we are to work on the assumption his death was a murder."

Rick squinted at Kate. He had to agree with the Captain for once. Without supporting evidence it was hard to decide whether he had fallen or had been pushed off the balcony.

Beckett caught the look. "What? You're on Gate's team? You're meant to be my partner, on my team."

"And I am." He confirmed as his fingers nervously tapped on the table top. He looked over his shoulder to the kitchen, wishing their meals would arrive. "Where's breakfast? It's taking forever."

"Yeah, where is it? I'm starving." Kate replied and grabbed the newspaper.

Rick leaned back in the seat staring at his fiancée, at her dark eyes and furrowed brow. She really was a terrible hangover partner to be in the company of. He kind of smiled at his recollection of her behaviour in bed that morning. He wished he'd been able to have all morning in bed with her, that they hadn't been forced to get out of bed to answer the call of duty. He watched as she read the front page of the paper a very serious expression worn on her face. He leaned to her and reached to her left hand that rested on the table. He gave it a gentle stroke with his thumb. She glanced to their hands then to his eyes with a questioning look.

He smiled and said quietly, "You are such a bad hangover victim."

A hellishly cheeky smile spread over her face and her cheeks blushed a little, "Yeah, but I'm fun to be with when I'm drunk."

"That's true. Next time I drink like that I definitely want to do it with you."

"There's gonna be a next time?" He asked in surprise.

"No doubt there will be, but next time we take the following day off work."

"Definitely take the day off next time, yes." Rick shook his head with certainty.

The choice to have breakfast was their best decision that morning. As they weren't in a rush to get to the Precinct they ate at a pace their stomachs could cope with and read the morning papers. The queasiness they felt was eased with the consumption of a big breakfast and several coffees.

On page three of the Ledger, Castle read an article about vacations which reminded him to ask Kate, "Have you submitted your leave application to Gates for our two weeks at your Dad's lake house?" He lifted his gaze from the article which featured a forest in Canada to Kate who was consuming her meal with a far less enthusiasm than earlier. When she had ordered she had gone straight with an order of bacon and eggs with an extra slice of toast, a bowl of cereal and a double strength coffee. Anyone looking at Kate would assume she didn't eat very much but she generally had a good appetite. This morning it was nothing short of ferocious and she had eaten almost all of it. At first she reminded Rick of a starving dog who had been given a meal of scraps. She had been hunched over her plate and focused on the bowl of cereal which was gone. Thankfully she was now relaxed and some colour had returned to her cheeks. She hadn't answered him "Kate?"

She looked up, "Mmmm?

"Vacation?"

"Oh! Sorry, yeah, it was approved a week or so ago." Her lips curved with a thought.

Rick didn't miss it, "What?" He inquired confused by her mischievous expression.

Kate swallowed and picked up her coffee she took a sip of, making him wait for her answer. She could see how impatient he was for her response. She put the mug down and leaned into their conversation, her eyes sparkling with mystery, "Finally, our first vacation where we will be doing nothing."

Rick's eyes lingered over her lips she moistened. He forced himself to think about what she had said along with the subject. His gaze connected to her eyes. He saw the glistening in them. She was such a tease. She was already starting to sexually provoke him. By evening they would be driving each other crazy. He sat up with a cheeky look, "Do nothing?" He challenged, "I can tell you now, there will be plenty of kissing," he whispered, looking about them to ensure no one could hear their discussion, "Snuggling, eating, drinking, sleeping," he continued noting the customers in the café were busy eating and doing their own thing as they were.

"Mmm." She smiled showing her approval, "And?"

He rested his elbow on the table, his chin on the heel of his hand and stared lovingly at her as he said quietly and very sexily, "We will be enjoying each other… a lot of practising and all that. I might even discover a few surprises about you…" His gaze slowly lowered from her lips to her chest.

Kate stared at him her lips parting. The motion of his beautiful lips as his spoke, the colour and cheekiness of his blue eyes and the provocative tone of his damn hot voice momentarily caught her breath in her chest. She decided she too would continue to play suggestively. She leaned closer to the table, to him, "I do have a few other tricks than just the ice thing …" She wavered off and gazed seductively into his eyes hoping he would turn into a blubbering mess which is exactly what happened. His cheeks blushed and his blue eyes shined. She sat up and laughed triumphantly at him then smiled and said. "I cannot wait to go to Dad's lake house. Just us." She whispered, glanced about and leaned in further, "Making love, eating, sleeping, making love, outright sex …" Her eyes which had been dancing between his eyes and mouth lowered suggestively to his groin she actually couldn't see because of the table and her left eyebrow rose a little. Her body language wasn't wasted on him. "Wall sex." She hissed and sat back pressing her body to the back of the seat.

Rick sighed heavily trying to refrain the growth in his pants, "You are so bad, Beckett," he expressed as he exhaled, and fidgeted on his seat to accommodate his growing organ, "We won't even need to leave the house." Rick sat up taking a few badly needed breaths of air. She could behave so hot at times. "I'm gonna keep eating my breakfast as I'm starting to feel better and I don't need your teasing right this minute."

Kate smirked, glad she had achieved her goal. "Will we go skiing?"

"Of course. If there's snow."

"Mmm." She picked up the fork and as she brought the food to her mouth she gave Rick her look. She watched his eyes stare at her lips as she closed her mouth around the fork. She pulled the utensil out of her mouth slowly and moved her mouth and tongue in the way she knew turned him on.

"Geez Kate."

"Why did we have to wake up to a murder today, Castle?"

"Because life is sometimes very cruel Beckett. Stop doing that please or I'm gonna rent a room for an hour."

Kate laughed. "Ricky." She purred, her dark eyes swallowing him whole.

"I know. This is gonna go on all day, isn't it."

"Maybe."

He pointed to her meal. "Eat Beckett. You will need the energy tonight."

"Really?"

"For sure." He decided not to watch her anymore or engage in her provocative behaviour. He knew it would annoy the hell of her if he ignored her. He decided he would start on her later in the day. He focussed on reading the Ledger.

Kate huffed and puffed a few times clearly put out by his lack or reactions. He wasn't playing her game. Minutes later when Castle turned the newspaper to page six his eyes landed on a picture of two very familiar faces smiling at him. Initially he was delighted to find there was a colour and sizeable picture of him and Beckett. It had been taken at the wedding. It was a nice picture with Kate standing in front of Rick, his arms neatly and comfortably wrapped around her slight waist. Her hand was over his and the engagement ring was sparkling perfectly. They were still sober when that photograph had been taken. The delight in Rick was quickly replaced with worry when he saw beneath the fold on the page another picture of him, but he was not in Kate's company. Problem number one. The queasiness that food had resolved soon returned for reasons other than alcohol.

Instead, in the second picture he was hanging over the shoulders of two beautiful women and grinning broadly and boyishly at the camera. And there were problems two and three.

Rick cleared his throat and reached for the glass of water he desperately needed to moisten his parched mouth. He gulped two good mouthfuls taking the moment to check on Kate who was still occupied with eating. She was eating more than reading. Maintaining a casual air he took a bite of his scrambled eggs and as he chewed he returned to the pictures. Rick was most concerned by the picture of himself with the two women because it was a given he would have to explain it in detail to Kate at some stage in the very near future. The woman wrapped around him from his left he didn't know even though he pushed his memory to the extreme to recall her. He had nothing on her, but her name which was printed beneath the picture. He knew in that instance that if Kate questioned his association with the undeniably gorgeous brunette and he came up with nothing, he would be in a very bad situation with Kate. The unknown woman was in contact with his body in a way too friendly manner for his fiancée to accept. The woman to his right he definitely knew. She was an ex-girlfriend from way back. They had remained friends ever since they had amicably gone their separate ways, but Kate didn't know about her yet. His arm was politely over her shoulder, as that's how they were with each other, and she was leaning in close only for the picture. His suit jacket was gone and his tie was loose. Rick was sure he was quite intoxicated in that image. Based only by the grin he wore and his eyes, he was drunk. He also couldn't recall the picture being taken. If he didn't remember this one, then how many more were there? Again, he shot his eyes up to Kate who was now more engrossed in reading the sports section of the paper than eating. Boring baseball scores. She had pushed away her plate that had almost been licked clean by the looks of it.

He quickly turned the page concealing the pictures then picked up his coffee. "You still hungry, Darling?"

Kate gave him a look for using his latest pet name to tease her. He couldn't restrain the smile of amusement her expression caused. She glanced at the empty plate then looked at him.

"I'm good thanks." She knotted her brow and narrowed her eyes like a mother with a naughty child. She was on to him. Straight away his heart rate increased. "What's going on?" She inquired glancing about him for any suspicious or incriminating evidence.

"Nothing!" His voice faltered and went high. _Whoops_! He cleared his throat and sat back pretending to be nonchalant about her suspiciousness. It was then he determined that even despite his mother's chosen career, he was not very good at acting. He knew he tended to fidget and pull odd expressions and that's exactly what he was doing. His own body deceived him. He couldn't help it and if he tried to stop it he was worse. He reminded himself he only had to make it through the day without Kate seeing page 6 of the Ledger. A simple task really for most men, but most men weren't engaged to a NYPD detective. The decision was made to deny he knew about the pictures if she happened upon a copy of the Ledger later in the day. Ignorance was often his best approach.

Then it occurred to him that Beckett usually read the Ledger online while she drank her first coffee each morning. Maybe she had already seen the pictures from her iPad. If she had, why hadn't he copped her reaction?

Across the table, as she thought about Castle's response, Beckett tousled her hair with her fingers, watching him and thinking it out. Then all her attention was shot at him as she leaned over the table, eyebrows straight, "Nothing, my ass." She hissed. He jumped back a little at her abrupt movement.

Rick was certain in that instance, she hadn't figured it out yet but she would get it out of him what was going on. She sat up and used her hair fluffing to give herself a few more seconds to figure it out.

Amused by her little performance, he too leaned toward her and hissed back, "Nothing is going on." He sat back and waved a finger at her mug of coffee. "Drink your coffee wife to be."

She spontaneously grinned at his term for her, but pushed on with conversation."Why don't I believe you, Ricky?"

Rick picked up his coffee and maintained a stare on her troublesome hazel eyes, trying his hardest not to cave under her pressure. She was so good at calling his bluff. The way she stared him down it was almost impossible not to buckle but he managed to maintain resilience. He'd seen Esposito succeed a thousand times with Kate so he too could manage it. He made the decision to distract her with his charm and choice of words. "Because my darling detective, a large part of your job is to be suspicious."

"You're playing that card?"

"Of course! Your bullshit meter is always whirling. We're good." He confidently said dismissing her behaviour as he casually sipped his coffee once again. He swallowed gazing at her beautiful face. He thoroughly enjoyed holding back on her making her work to get information out of him. She was cute when she was angry or frustrated.

Kate scoffed, eyes widened, "Seriously? My bullshit meter?"

"Yes you have a good quality and accurate bullshit meter. Amazingly accurate." Rick chuckled over his own humour. An issue he had with the newspaper pictures was whether she actually remembered the photographer taking their photograph. He also thought about any images might have captured on her iPhone. They would certainly prompt her to remember the photographer's presence. It also suddenly crossed his mind that her father, or more likely her aunts, would see the pictures and text Kate. Since dating her he'd discovered her aunts had a big influence on her father.

"I need to have one of those meters with you in my life. I always know when you're hiding something."

"I know. But I'm not hiding anything, Beckett." He took another mouthful of coffee. "You're just hung over and acting crazy." He knew he'd taken a big bite of the devil's pie when he made that statement but he maintained eye contact, remained calm, cool and collected. If she did remember the photographer, she would search the paper at some point during the day to see whether they made the print. He had discovered since they had been dating that Kate loved taking photographs of them and him. In fact it was a hobby they jointly enjoyed. She wasn't a fan of being in the media however. He would just have to be diligent and not let her near a newspaper. His mind went back to her father, the aunts and whether they would see the pictures. It was playing on his mind. Then there was the problem of her girlfriends seeing the pictures. Facebook. He hadn't thought about bloody Facebook. He was cooked. Geezus. He knew he was on a losing battle from that moment. He decided to simply stir her about it as long as he could.

He smiled thinking about some of the pictures he had managed to capture of Kate since they had started dating. There had been more than a few occasions when he had been forced to run fast after he had captured her in a moment. More than a dozen times she had tackled him to take his phone into her possession.

"What are you grinning about?"

"Nothing Kate." Over time, he had saved his favourite pictures in a special folder on his laptop that only he could access. He really enjoyed browsing that collection of pictures. In the meantime, he decided he would order copies of the pictures the paper's photographer had taken of them for Beckett but would dismiss the intoxicated ones. He pressed, "Really Babe, nothing."

She tapped her fingers, "Well ok then."

His ears prickled at her tone. She was dissatisfied with his response, but he continued to participate, "Mmm?"

"My bullshit meter is telling me you are up to something, Castle." She reached for the newspaper. He slammed his palm down on it pinning it to the table. They locked eyes. "What are you doing?" She inquired.

"We have to leave, Beckett. Finish your coffee." He tapped his watch. Kate snatched the paper. Regardless of how nervous he suddenly was, Rick finished his toast then chased it down with the rest of his coffee, pretending all was cool. She watched him as she flicked through the pages to look for the sports pages. "Ting, ting, ting." He sounded.

"What's that noise?"

"Your bullshit meter has gone into overdrive. You know the paper is full of rubbish."

"Mmmm… seems to be a writer's thing."

"Touché, Ms Beckett."

"We won." She said and dropped the paper on the table. Castle breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't care who had won. She'd forgotten the paper. Kate stood and walked away.

As she made her way between the tables of diners, she smiled to herself, knowing very well Rick was under duress because he was hiding something from her. It wouldn't be long before she busted it out in the open exactly what he and the boys were conspiring. She was always one step ahead of them. She thoroughly enjoyed playing him.

On their way out of the cafe they ordered take out coffees for the drive back to the Precinct. Kate was quiet in the car during the drive. Rick knew it was because she had eaten and her low sugar levels had been topped up. While she drove he listened to the radio and checked his emails and text message. Once he was done he stared out the window in the direction they were headed.

Rick's phone beeped half way back to the Precinct. He took it from his pocket to see that Espo had sent him a text. He glanced to Kate who had a questioning look on her face. She returned her eyes to the road ahead. Rick ignored her body language and opened the message. It contained a blurry copy of the image of himself and the women from the Ledger. The folded newspaper was held jointly by Esposito and Ryan who had obviously taken a selfie picture. Espo's message simply read:

_How much do you want to keep this from Becks?_

Rick nervously cleared his throat as he thought about two obvious issues: where their friends and workmates were possibly going with this and what sort of reaction Kate was going to have when she did see the picture of him and the two women. That was, of course, if she did find it. He imagined his beloved Ferrari with Esposito or Ryan behind the wheel. Then he thought about watching Kate drive it which really turned him on. Sheer determination kicked in that the boys wouldn't be driving the sports car any time soon. Castle made the decision to call their bluff. He tapped back:

_She's seen it already, Dudes. Too bad,_

With a good dose of smugness over his face, Rick pocketed his phone. He wasn't going to let Esposito claim ownership of the Ferrari. He also had to find out who the second woman was in case Kate saw the picture. She wouldn't give up until she knew who she was and where Rick knew her from. She might have been one of his ex's friends. He decided he would text Mandy later on.

"Who was that?" Kate inquired, trying to sound casually interested rather than too inquisitive.

Right on cue, Rick thought to himself. He already had an answer prepared, "Alexis. She's asking for more pocket money."

Kate glanced to Rick in disbelief. His daughter always seemed to be asking for pocket money. "Don't you already provide her with a generous weekly allowance?"

"I do, but she still tries for more. I ignore her texts most of the time." Rick replied with confidence and shrugged his shoulders, "Girls." He muttered and looked out the passenger window hoping Kate would just drop it.

"What do you mean by that?"

Rick tissed, "I mean, she's a girl. She likes to shop."

"So do I but I use my money …."

"What about when you were at college?"

Kate smiled coyly then admitted, "Yes my Dad provided me with an allowance and he paid my school fees but I rarely asked him for extra money unless I needed it for books, but I also had a part time job."

Rick felt bad as Alexis was exactly the same as Kate had been, "She's not too bad." He said with a tone that told Kate he wasn't willing to continue the topic of conversation.

"She's like I was at the same age." Kate said, "And you are a great Dad."

"I know. I'm a good boyfriend to." He smiled and stroked her thigh just the once.

"Well, I'm not so sure about that after this morning Castle."

"I ordered you a copy of the photo that the Ledger photographer took of us." He offered her and instantly saw her smile.

"Thank you! Did we make the paper?"

"I didn't check, but I know a guy there and he texted me he's put copies in the mail already. You will have them tomorrow."

"Cool."

"Cool." Rick echoed filled with relief he might have pulled that off. He also made a mental note to text Mandy when he had a chance as he really needed to know who the woman wrapped about his body was. With the identity known he also had the answers when Beckett commenced her interrogation.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - Interview with Perri**

Antonio Perri was waiting for Castle and Becket in interrogation one. By the time they arrived at the bull pen he'd been sitting there a while. As they passed the box, Castle peered through the window and partially closed blinds to capture a glimpse of the man who was lucky to still be alive. To Rick's disappointment he was just an average guy of slim build, about the same age and height as Beckett. His brown hair was slicked back pronouncing his Italian heritage. He was of average looks but the suit he wore was relatively expensive. Rick noted Perri appeared to be somewhat bewildered. It was most likely caused by the events in his neighbourhood that morning and why the police wanted to talk to him. He was clearly wondering why he was sitting alone in an interrogation room waiting for a detective to turn up. Kate hadn't been specific to him during their phone conversation about what she wanted to chat with him about at the Precinct. He was about to find out.

Before they commenced their chat with Perri, Kate settled at her desk, turned on her computer, locked her bag in the bottom drawer of her desk and pulled off her coat. Rick took her coat and with his, hung them up on the communal coat stand. Both of them took a trip to the bathroom. Rick returned to his chair where he sat and played on his iPhone while Kate did her thing. Both of them had checked to see whether Captain Gates was in the Precinct. They noted although telephone communication had been regular with Beckett, the Captain hadn't as yet arrived at the Precinct.

"Hopefully, she'll work from home." Kate mumbled so only Rick would hear.

"We can only hope." He agreed. "I'll go make coffee while you check your emails." Rick was on his feet and gone to the breakout room before Kate's mind had heard him. She was distracted and busy reading emails.

With the presence at the Precinct, the team gathered at Kate's desk for a brief update with each other.

Ryan nodded towards the box and said. "The uniforms who brought in the occupant of the apartment said he wouldn't shut up all the way in. Doesn't have a clue."

"He's waiting in the box for Castle and me to interview him."

"Yeah, and I cannot wait to see his face when Beckett gives him the news." Rick said grinning at the guys.

"Fix the hangovers you two?" Esposito asked.

"Reasonably so for Beckett. I'm good." Rick said and saw the look Kate gave him.

"I'm fine Esposito. So what have you guys found out?" She crossed her right leg over left and leaned back in the chair.

"Well," Ryan began, "Esposito and I have established that the dead guy had been living at the Hotel Addison under the name of Billy Benson. He always paid cash for the time he stayed there. We've asked the hotel to leave the room as it is until we've checked it out. We'll go there later. Lanie said she found a room key in his clothes."

"We'll go there after the interview." Kate suggested. "We need to speak to this guy first."

"Yeah, good idea. Benson's car is apparently parked beneath the hotel. We will also search the entire car and we are currently running a check of his licence and vehicle registration."

"What we do know is Billy Benson came from Detroit and had a wife he had separated from a few months ago. She's taken off and we can't find her to notify her of his death as yet." Esposito finished.

Kate stood up and went to the forensic photograph of the deceased Billy Benson that hung from the white board. Ryan had handwritten the guy's name beneath the picture. Kate jotted a couple of bullet points asking who had hired him or was he working alone. She also stuck up the picture of the unknown woman connecting it to Billy Benson's picture with a red line.

"So we have a confirmed identity on Benson. Did the Detroit detectives give you anything on this woman?" Kate inquired.

"Waiting for them to get back to us, Beckett. They said they would go to his house." Ryan replied, "Initial discussions indicate he was a known person by the local police but they could never catch him out. He works out of town a lot. We're waiting on his financials. Like most people in Detroit he's left the area for work and has been gone a lot. The detectives indicated he's working, keeping his nose clean."

"He won't be doing that anymore." Kate muttered and smacked her lips in thought about where they would progress to.

"Ok, so don't know who the woman is."

"We'll go talk to the guy in the box. See what he knows." She took a copy of the photos of Benson and the woman and reached for her notebook. She also glanced at Rick silently indicating to him to get up, that it was time to move. Rick stood and straightened his shirt.

"We'll run more on Billy Benson, see what pops." Esposito said and elbowed Ryan. The two of them scattered. Kate and Rick watched them go.

Kate commenced to walk away and within a few seconds she summoned him with a, "Castle."

Castle was soon at her side and together they strolled to the interrogation room to have a chat with the alleged target.

As Beckett entered the box ahead of Castle, the man stood to greet them. Kate visually assessed the person. Her nerves prickled at this guy's presence but she didn't understand why. He was slim, about her height. He was the athletic type who spent a lot of time every day exercising. The suit he wore was charcoal grey and reasonably expensive. He appeared the average office executive but it didn't help him appear any less creepy to Kate. He caused her to feel uneasy and she knew it wasn't the alcohol that caused her to feel it.

She looked him in the eyes, but didn't smile, then said, "Mr Perry, I'm Detective Beckett and this is Mr Castle. Thank you for coming in." She sat to Castle's right. It was obvious Perri was a little on edge, noticeably uncomfortable with having been brought into the police station escorted by two uniforms, who had declared they were there to protect him.

"Hi." He nodded and sat back in the chair opposite them.

"Mr Perri," Kate continued, "I'm the Detective who called you earlier after there was an incident in your neighbourhood that we believe you may be somehow a part of." She noticed he was busy looking at Castle, "Mr Castle consults with me at the Precinct and will be present for this discussion."

"Oh, okay. Please call me Tony." He reached over to Castle and shook hands with him. Everyone settled down and Kate opened her black folder to clean page of notebook in readiness to proceed.

Perri gazed at Kate for too long. He looked at her hair, eyes, mouth. It was so disturbingly obvious that it instantly got Rick's back up. Castle cleared his throat and glared at Perri making it clear she was off limits.

Across the table Perri ignored Castle's body language and continued to study Kate. "You are exactly the type of woman one of my good friends always pursues."

"Wow." She said under her breath and glanced to Rick a little worried he was going to leap across the table to defend his property. She'd already sensed the high level of testosterone rise in the room. Confused by the upfront comment and how to appropriately respond to such a statement, she could only manage to blink several times. She finally looked at Mr Perri. He was smiling and postured as though he hadn't said anything inappropriate, "Arrr…." She shot another look to Rick, "I don't know how to move on from that, but I'm certainly not flattered." Having said that she sat back and crossed her arms, playing with her lip glossed lips. Her patience this morning was faltering once again.

"No." Rick added, "Me neither."

"My apologies for being so upfront, but you are a stunning woman."

Rick sat forward presenting Perri with the best death stare he could muster up. Defending Beckett's honour was something that kept him busy, "Mr Perri. Detective Beckett isn't a _thing_ to be admired. I request that you respect her."

"No. I'm not." Kate too leaned into the conversation with quite a serious expression, the one she usually kept for playing poker against Rick. It was time to roll with why he had had his sorry ass dragged into the Precinct. Why is someone trying to kill you? Why do I have to have this discussion with him in my box? She wanted to throw this bonehead to the SVU team so she could focus on her real job. Murder.

Once they had confirmation from Lanie that the guy accidentally fell to his death they were off the case. Period.

She sucked in oxygen and began, "Tony, I won't mess around with you. We have good reason to believe that you were the target of an assassination attempt gone wrong this morning. You undoubtedly saw a number of cops this morning gazing into the sky outside your apartment earlier today."

"I saw a commotion over the road yes," he replied calmly staring at the two opposite him. Both were deadly serious and barely blinked.

Kate waited for the news to sink into the man's consciousness before she continued. She could see by his expression he wasn't quite up to speed yet. She heard Rick breathe out heavier in disbelief it was taking him so long to catch up. "We believe you were the target." She reiterated deliberately staring him down with her large hazel eyes. She knew she had a way of unnerving people.

He sat up with an expression of pure surprise and disbelief over his face glancing between Beckett and Castle. "Me? A target?" His jaw dropped open then slammed shut as he swallowed nervously, "Why me?"

Kate glanced to Rick who was noticeably surprised by the man's response. She wanted to laugh but instead, she maintained her professional demeanour, leaned forward and replied, "I think you might be able to enlighten us, Tony. Can you think of anyone off the top of your head who would like you dead?"

"I have no idea, Detective. Why would someone want to kill me?"

"That's what we're trying to find out from you, Tony." Rick replied hoping Tony would accept the news and help them out a bit.

"I can't believe someone wants to kill me." He muttered his eyes darting around the room. His hands that had rested on the desk now fiddled in discomfort.

Kate shot another glance at Rick. This time it was impatience because she knew she had to get this guy to refocus on the questions. Castle's expression encouraged her to persist with her line of questioning. She turned back to Tony and asked, "Tony, are you able to tell us what you were doing at six thirty this morning?"

Perri stared wide eyed at Kate's eyes and sat back in his chair. Suddenly he seemed to regain some composure, blinked a couple of times and replied calmly, "Easy. Like every morning. I was running on the treadmill."

With a sigh of relief that Perri was over his moment of shock Kate continued, "Do you live with anyone else?"

"My girlfriend stays over sometimes, otherwise no, I live alone."

"Could she know of someone who may want her or you dead?"

Perri shrugged his shoulders, "Not that I know of. She's from out of town and only moved here a few months ago. She doesn't know many people in the city yet. She has her own place she shares with another woman."

"Was she in the apartment with you this morning?"

"Arrr, yes, she was there. She left early when I was running. She had a flight out early this morning for work."

"What is her name?" Kate asked as she picked up her pen.

"Kate, well Katrina Adams."

Kate wrote down her name at the top of the page. "Do you know her date of birth?"

"Umm… shit, arrr… 24 September, maybe 1982. Something like that."

"What do you do for work?" Rick inquired while Kate was writing to keep the conversation flowing.

"I work as an executive for a small business in trading. I'm also a part time bookie."

Rick sat up, quite surprised by the man's reply, and glanced to Kate's who maintained her poker face. Rick had enough time to think about how cute she looked acting neutral. "Any disgruntled clients in the bookie world?" Her acting was one of the reasons Castle liked to play poker with her but he dismissed that thought to focus on Perri's reply.

The man chortled and scratched the top of his head, looking at Rick with an expression of disbelief that he'd even asked, "Hell yeah! Heaps of them in the bookie world, but they keep coming back to bet on the ponies."

Rick recalled the guy's address. They needed to get inside his apartment at some time. For a small business executive he sure had an reasonable address compared to the place Benson had fallen out of. That implied to Rick that Perri's bookie career was more than adequately feeding his lifestyle or there was something else going on, "You're a routine sort of guy?"

Perry nodded, "Of course. I get up early, exercise, go to work, come home around seven most nights, spend time with my partner. Play the ponies online and work as a bookie during the weekends."

It all made sense. The hit man had relied on routine to knock him off. "Have you changed anything in the past week or so?"

"Like what?"

Rick shrugged his shoulders, aware Beckett was casting an inquisitive look at him, "Anything, anything at all?" Rick wondered momentarily why he had asked the question and by the expression on Kate's face, she was wondering the same thing. In Rick's opinion the guy seemed like the pedantic type, who would make a big issue out of the smallest change in his routine. He was nervous about being interviewed for he bookie. Rick knew that bookies had nerves of steel so why would a few questions have the guy uneasy? Being a bookie was a tough man's job and not for the faint hearted.

"Nothing really."

Rick leaned forward and thought for a moment, "Well you see, we've got to look at the obvious discretions in the story so far. You're alive which means in my opinion the hit man failed. I kind of figure what caused him to fail at taking your life is the result of a small change in the situation. Whatever it is and we will find it, that change literally caused the hit man to fuck up and fall from the balcony. That is, of course, if he wasn't pushed. As a result you are still breathing and sitting her talking to us about it."

Perri scratched his head. "No there's nothing." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Anything menial or large, Tony." Rick pushed. He was willing to go the ridiculous path with this as that's what he sensed had altered the flow of events. Something occurred that had altered the outcome and had resulted in Benson laying on a slab in the morgue today instead of Perri.

"Menial?" He raised his arms in the air as though to express he couldn't believe what he was about to say, "There was only one change, which is menial to others but important to me. You will think its menial?"

"Yes, go on." Rick encouraged feeling his heart rate increased a little with anticipation.

"I bought a new treadmill because my old one blew up," he stated and waited for the reaction from the writer.

"You bought a treadmill." Rick echoed rhetorically. "Ok, that's definitely menial, but shall we explore it?" He suggested glancing between Beckett and Perri. Speaking of treadmills, Rick's girlfriend had been hinting with the severity of a sledgehammer in the hands of a lumber jack that it was time for the antiquated treadmill in the loft to be upgraded.

Tony immediately smiled, "Yeah, it's kind of stupid but I'm excited about it. It's awesome. You should see it."

"Yup for sure," Rick said glancing to Kate who did the same thing at him. The one at home he didn't care less about. It was Kate who pelted out the miles on it. Castle had used it to hang clothes from until Beckett had started staying over and had clapped her eyes on it. She had promptly thrown his clothes to the floor and had commandeered it. Eventually they had shifted it to a better position in the loft where she could watch TV while she ran.

Kate dropped her pen she had been doodling with, sat up and leaned forward with new found interest in the conversation Rick had been driving. "How's the console on it?" She inquired, as she had been harping at Rick to upgrade his treadmill to one that had a television/computer screen on the console. That way she had choices - she could read the news, watch TV or connect her iPhone or play music while she exercised.

Rick caught the hint and shook his head in the negative, not making eye contact with her. He felt the heat of her glare burning into the side of his head. She knew his condition before he would invest in a new one: she needed to wear the existing one out. He was secretly waiting for Kate to deceptively mess with the treadmill so it malfunctioned and he would then be forced to purchase her a new one.

Meanwhile, oblivious to Rick's thoughts about their treadmill, and seemingly no longer bothered at all by the fact he had dodged a bullet that very morning grinned excitedly at Kate. He sat up his eyes glistening, "Awesome console. Almost like a car. Commercial gym grade we're talking here, wider than my previous one so the rubber band doesn't slip. You know."

Kate nodded, thinking how much she hated it when the rubber band did slip and she had to ask Rick to adjust it for her.

Tony continued, "This one is so big, the guys who installed it had to hoist it up from outside and bring it in through the balcony door and then move the other gym equipment about to fit it in where I wanted it to be." Tony explained.

"Cool. Sounds like a _modern_ piece of equipment. Not an antique." She articulated her words, hinting at Rick he needed to listen but as usual he chose to ignore her, "You run every morning?" She asked seeking confirmation then clarified, "At the same time each day?"

"Yes, ma'am."

She immediately responded, "Always on your treadmill, you never go out for a run?" She picked up her pen again, reviewing what she had been drawing earlier. It looked like she had marked out a rough sketch of the site where the incident had occurred.

"Yes, its winter. Every morning I run before I do weights. Summer I tend to go out running."

Kate nodded and tapped her pen on the desk. She looked down again, closer this time, at the schematic diagram she had sketched of the balcony, the tree and Perri's apartment over the road during the time they had been talking. She momentarily really focussed on it then wondered why the hell she had drawn it. She looked up at Perri as something crossed her mind, "So just going back a little, you were definitely on your treadmill at six thirty this morning?"

"Yes."

"Mmmm…." She scanned her sketch again.

Rick saw her brow crease in thought which instantly told him Kate was on to something. "What is it?" He quietly queried.

Kate shifted a little with a glance to Rick, physically communicating to him she believed she might have figured it out, before she questioned, "And where is the treadmill situated in your apartment?" Kate thought this guy must have been close to the window for the hit man to take a shot. She'd stood on the balcony earlier that morning with Rick where they had determined that there wasn't an easy shot in any direction for the hit man to take. Perri's apartment was the obvious target and it would have needed two shots to shoot through the glass.

Tony, confused by the line of questioning responded, "In the spare room where all my gym equipment is."

"Can you be more specific?" Kate spun her note book around and slid it over the table so Perri had a closer view of her diagram. She pointed to the box she had drawn with the longer balcony on it and tapped her finger on a few places on the diagram as she spoke, "This is your apartment and this is where the guy fell from. Would you make an X where your treadmill is please?" She handed him her pen and also made herself a mental note to make sure she washed her pen when she left this meeting. The guy was creeping her out. Besides his initial comments he'd been fine, but her instincts were not at ease one bit in this guy's presence.

Each of them leaned toward the note book as Perri fussed with Kate's diagram. He drew in an additional wall then placed a small x where his treadmill was. "There," he confirmed.

"Facing the window." Kate wanted him to confirm.

"Yes. I like to face the window so I'm not staring at a wall when I'm running. It's boring." He dropped the pen on top of the notebook and turned it back to Kate, confused by her interest in his treadmill's position.

A light went on in Rick's head, "We're on the right track," he said to Kate, "If the guys who installed the new treadmill moved the treadmill over, the hit man had to reach out…" He saw her eyes brighten and she turned to Perri.

"They moved the new treadmill to the right?" Kate inquired.

Tony nodded, "That's right. Everything got moved to the right."

Rick sat up giving Kate a grin because he knew what she was on to, "Bam said the lady," he exclaimed with a hand hitting his thigh.

"Omigod! He really did fall off the balcony," Kate whispered as though it was a secret. "He wasn't pushed."

"You got it, Beckett," With the realisation his excitement was too much for the moment Castle muttered an apology and straightened up in his chair. Becket incidentally flashed him the look that told him to control his enthusiasm. He apologetically glanced to Kate but uncontrollably grinned.

She rolled her eyes as she turned her attention to Perri, "A bloody treadmill saved your life."

"The treadmill." Perri repeated.

Rick laughed in delight that they had discovered the reason Benson had fallen to his death, "Thank your lucky stars Dude that you bought a new treadmill. You saved your own life!"

"It's not a homicide or a suicide." Kate declared smiling at Rick.

"A clumsy hit man," Rick chortled almost bouncing in his seat. "I'm keeping this one for a book!"

"Mmmm," Kate, who decided it was time to be more serious, turned her attention back to Tony. "We still have a problem Tony."

"What are you guys talking about? You two have this sync thing going on here and it's hard to keep up. Like a married couple."

"We know." Both of them replied together.

Kate glanced to Rick then continued sliding a forensic picture of Billy Benson from her notebook. She held it out for Perri to view. He recoiled at the sight of the bloodied head. "Apologies for the state of this photograph, but do you know this man? Is there any chance you have seen him following you, or passing you?" She stared at the back of the picture she held up of Bill Benson, quite dead. They were still waiting on a better photograph of him from when he was alive.

Tony studied the ugly photograph. "No, I don't recognise him."

Rick saw a muscle under Perri's eye flex involuntarily. He knew in that instance that the man was lying. Rick wanted to look at Kate but he was certain she wouldn't have missed it. She was too good at interrogating, observing and playing poker to miss that one. Rick pushed Perri a little by suggesting, "Take away the blood and stuff, and try to imagine how he would look alive, feeling better than he looks in that." He waved his fingers at the photo.

Perri glanced between Castle and the picture, then nodded, "Ok." He rubbed his chin, "I still don't recognised him."

Tired of the act Perri was putting on for them, Kate lifted out the photo of the young woman that she had found in Benson's duffel bag. In the forensics bag, she pinched the plastic zip lock back from the top and dangled it in front of Tony Perri to inspect, "Have you ever seen the woman in this picture before, Tony?"

Once again he studied the picture and Rick studied him. "No. Not seen her either."

Kate put it away along with the first picture and closed her notebook quite swiftly. Rick knew then that Kate was aware the man was lying to them, "I think we need to have you under protective custody and you need to think about why someone wants you dead," she explained with a matter of fact tone. She rose from her chair, glanced between the men and picked up her notebook, "Would either of you like a coffee? I need another one before we continue with this."

"Yes please!" Both men answered and Rick rose from his chair, "I'll go Beckett. You do your detective thing."

Kate nodded her thanks, returned to her chair and weaved her fingers together looking at Tony Perri. Her gut instincts, although a little off that morning, were telling her loud and clear that Tony knew exactly why someone might be after him. He had been uneasy since the second she had laid her eyes on him. To her relief, as it was no longer a homicide case she also needed to talk with the Captain about transferring the case over to another squad. There were plenty of unsolved cases she could investigate.

"Tony, the NYPD will arrange for your protection while the case is being worked on. In the meantime, you will be best to remain at the Precinct until we can arrange a secure place for you. Perhaps while you wait you might like to write a list of names of any individuals you believe might want you injured and/or dead. Please do not make any phone calls or text any friends and colleagues of your present whereabouts." She tore off a couple of sheets of note paper and with the pen left them on the middle of the table. She stood, "Will you wait here a couple of minutes?

"Sure. I don't have a list to make."

"Good, but Mr Perri, someone wants you dead. I will be back after I make a couple of phone calls."

Perri nodded and sat back on the chair crossing his arms over his chest.

Kate left the room and walked past her desk from the interrogation room towards Rick who was carrying three cups of coffee. She relieved him of one and took a sip. "Thanks. I need to speak with Gates, and get this case off our desk."

"Ok. You do know he's lying to us don't you." He said so no one else heard as he placed his coffee on Kate's desk by his chair.

Kate nodded, "C'mon Castle! That was the worst acting."

"You obviously haven't seen my mother act," he scoffed and chuckled having amused himself. He saw Kate's expression and sobered. He pointed to the box, "I'll give him this and be out soon," and continued to the room where Tony was fiddling on his phone. With a smile Rick passed the man his coffee. "So you're the trading game weekdays and a bookie on weekends?" He inquired.

"Yeah, I learned years ago that being a betting man wasn't helping my pocket, so I decided to become a bookie. Started hanging out with a few of them and worked my way in like that."

"Mmmm." Rick sat on the edge of the desk. "The guy who fell off the side of the balcony, aiming his rifle at you was a professional hit man. He was hired to kill you, Tony." He paused to let the news sink in. "Someone paid him a lot of money to kill you. He had planned it for a few months. And you never noticed anything odd?" He paused, giving Perri a moment to consider that,

"No."

"You're a bookie and can't think of the name of a single person who wants to have you terminated?"

Tony stared at Rick for several seconds and swallowed. He shook his head and looked away from Rick.

"Nothing worth killing me for, no."

Rick stood and walked towards the door. He paused, rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger then said, "I think you do know, but in order for those police to find your killer, you need to tell them what you know." Their eyes met for several seconds then Rick left the room closing the door behind him.

As he returned to Kate's desk she slammed phone back it in cradle and let go of a few huffy breaths of air.

"Gates?" Rick muttered really not needing to ask, but it invited Kate to get any grievances off her chest. Holding it in was not good for her health or their private time after hours.

"Yes." She growled in frustration. "We have been asked to oversee the investigation, to find out who hired the dead guy. Gates is going to organise uniforms to sit outside his apartment and Perri must stay there." She pointed at the box where Perri sat inside hopefully writing up his list.

"Ok, then why don't we treat it as a murder case?"

"Because we don't have a body." She sarcastically replied and glared at him like he was stupid.

Rick ignored her response, "We have the victim. He just happens to be alive," Rick sipped his drink fully aware what he had said would piss Beckett off because she wanted to, and rightfully so, focus on real murder cases. "Let's do this and pretend he's dead." He plucked the photograph of Perri off the desk and pushed the photograph over the desk toward Kate for her take it, "Now we have a murder to solve."

They fell silent as two uniforms passed by them on their way to collect Tony Perri. It was a brief conversation before Tony stood and followed the officers out of the interrogation box to the elevator. After the elevator had arrived and swallowed them up, Rick rubbed his chin and murmured so only Kate would hear, "I don't trust Tony Perri."

"Me either." She whispered, "Something about him makes my skin crawl."

"Yeah, what he said to you before we started."

"Yussss!" She jumped at, "That was creepy. His friend would like me? Who says that, huh?"

"It must be true, why else would he say something like that?"

"Still creepy, Castle. Made the hair on my back stand up." She lifted out the photograph of the woman they had found in Benson's bag and passed it to Rick. He stood and placed it where it had previously been on the whiteboard.

"Don't worry. I was ready to defend your honour," he joked and shared a laugh and a mutual gaze with her. "I wonder who she is." He tapped the picture, "Who she was to Benson."

"A girlfriend. Someone important to Benson. I guess we will find out."

"I will get the guys to find out who she is." She tapped on the photo of Benson. "Meanwhile we need to figure out what his motivation was to kill Perri."

With their usual approach to a case, the forensic photograph of Billy Benson was slid to the right across the murder board to make space for the New York State Driver's Id photograph of Tony Perri that Kate slapped up on the board.

With neat handwriting using a blue whiteboard marker beneath the photo she wrote _Hit man's target. Why?_

"I'm making a coffee Beckett. You want another?"

"Mmmm, please." As Castle walked away, Beckett stepped backwards until the backs of her thighs felt the edge of her desk that she then sat upon. She gazed over the little evidence presented on the murder board as she contemplated it singularly and collectively. What Tony had told them about himself, she sensed wasn't the complete picture. There was something secretive going on for sure and Tony wasn't feeling threatened enough to spill yet.

"Ryan?" Kate called not taking her eyes from the board.

"Yes, Beckett?" Ryan replied from his desk.

"Can you run a background check on Tony Perri?"

"Already on to it."

"Thanks." She looked at him. "You sensed it too?"

"Sure did, the second I clapped my eyes on him." Ryan yelled as he walked away to the data room. "What he said to you in the box was creepy!"

"See! It was wrong." Rick shouted from the break room, smiling in response to Ryan's description, "He senses it too."

"How's the hangover Castle?" Esposito asked as the two of them danced around each other while making their coffees.

"Mine's ok. Beckett is still getting over it."

"Nice pictures in the Ledger…. The chica's hanging off you ..."

"Mmm?" Castle looked to Esposito pretending he wasn't at all concerned about the pictures.  
"What about them?"

"Does Beckett know who they are?"

"Beckett is an independent, confident and secure…."

Esposito smirked, "C'mon man! That woman will kill you when she see's that picture of you hanging over the girls."

Rick stirred the coffees then threw the spoon in the sink, "She's seen it."

"Ferrari for the week and I will cover for you."

"No deal." Rick replied and picked up the mugs of coffee.

"You are so gonna pay for that…"

Rick followed Esposito, "I don't think I will."

Eposito walked toward the murder board pointing a finger at the murder board, "That's a hit job," he said to Beckett, pointing at Perri as he got to the board, "Benson didn't even want information from Perri."

Castle passed Kate a cup of fresh coffee connecting with her eyes, "That's your last one for a while. Don't guzzle it like you did the last one." He stated. She shot him a look of you've got to be joking and thanked him for it then placed it on the desk to cool a little.

"He was a target. Who wanted him dead is still a mystery we have to solve." Esposito sat on the edge of the desk watching his two friends dance around each other without even having a bloody clue they did it. They were cutely clumsy with each other, in their unique way a little like teenagers.

"I agree. Benson was aiming for a clean shot to the heart." Beckett said, "Espo said he had the rifle prepped to drop him." The two stared at the board, "So who wants him dead?"

"Don't you mean, who wanted him dead? Murder, remember?" Rick reminded.

Kate rolled her eyes. "What's wrong Ricky, don't you have a story for this? Tony is a weekend bookie, an executive weekdays. Someone wants him dead. You must be bursting to tell me a story." She invited with a cheeky smile her face right up to his.

"Oh Beckett, genius doesn't just happen." He waved off and sat in his chair.

Kate scoffed. "You have nothing, writer boy."

"Harsh words." He looked sideways at her. "What do we have so far to our story?" He asked both Espo and Beckett.

Esposito raised a hand, "We have nothing but a hit man in the morgue who we know has a friend or someone with the picture, a wannabe bookie who wears a suit weekdays and is our pretend victim. He has brother and a girlfriend."

"But he's upset someone enough that they hired a hit man to kill him." Kate injected. "Did somebody pay him?"

"I'm about to check his bank records." Ryan replied.

"Did it occur to any of you that maybe the hit man was the one who wanted Perri dead?" Castle suggested.

"We still need to know what motivated him." Kate replied standing back to assess their progress on this pretend murder board. "If he didn't want information or something from Perri then what motivated him to take him out?"

"Revenge." Rick pointed to the photo of the young woman in the evidence bag.

"We keep circling this woman but she was probably just his girlfriend." Kate commented.

"The police will find that out when they go to his place to give the news he's dead." Ryan said.

"Maybe someone else simply paid Benson to kill Perri. This Chica could be anyone." Esposito said.

"We need to go talk to Tony's brother." Kate said.

"He's only a short drive away. Drink your coffee, Kate. We have to speak to a guy about a guy who's not dead."

"And see what he knows." Kate lifted her mug and took several quick sips of coffee. It was a little too hot to drink. "Espo, see what you can find out about Benson, whether he was working, who he spoke to at the hotel, and who was maybe pulling his strings. After that, see whether he had a girlfriend, whatever. We need to know this guy inside out. We also need to get to the hotel room. Get the background information and we'll meet you at the hotel after we've spoken to Perri's brother." She ordered then hurried after Rick to the elevator.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – visit the brother's house**

"Nice home." Castle remarked as he turned about in a slow circle in the middle of the living room of George Perri's suburban home. His gaze was momentarily attracted to a blue glass horse's head perched on the glass coffee table.

"Mmm…." Kate too looked about the living room, like a cop would. She was in search of any incriminating evidence. Her eyes finished on a glass cabinet which was choking with what she figured were sporting trophies, medals and photographs of kids grinning at various ages. She guessed the parents were kept busy with sporting events all weekend.

From the same entry they had used to enter the home, a man in his mid- thirties appeared wearing a friendly smile. He was physically similar to his brother, Tony Perri.

"You must be Detective Beckett?" He began his conversation directed at Castle, who instantly pointed at Beckett.

Kate stepped toward the owner of the home, "Yes, I am Detective Beckett and this is my partner Rick Castle who is a consultant with the NYPD."

"George Perri. Nice to meet you. Please take a seat," he invited as he sunk comfortably into a deep armchair.

"You have a family Mr Perri?" Kate began, to lighten the conversation. Feeling too warm in the house, she took off her coat then sat on the edge of the seat. She laid her coat neatly over her lap and rested her hands on the coat. Her fingers commenced to fiddle unconsciously with the black buttons on the coat.

"Yes. My wife, Pamela, and I have three children. Two boys and the youngest is a girl."

"They're obviously good a sports." She commented glancing to the cabinet. "Reminds me of the one my father has at home for me."

Rick glanced to Kate surprised she shared something personal with a stranger, even it was only a titbit of information about her past. She had shared it. He was aware of the cabinet Kate was referring to at her father's home. Rick didn't have one. He hitched the legs of his jeans and sat to her left on the edge of a bone coloured sofa, also too cautious to sit back into it. The couch with its big puffy cushions looked like it was ready to swallow them up whole.

"They're very active children and academically bright." Mr Perri calmly crossed his legs and relaxed into the arm chair, "I was told by my wife that you would like to speak to me about my brother? What's he got involved in?"

There was a glass coffee table between the pieces of furniture that Kate stared at to gather her thoughts. She especially gazed over the exquisite glass ornament of a horse. Her instincts constantly assessed the stranger opposite her, the way he moved, looked about, his clothing, behaviour. He was definitely a brother of Tony Perri by physical appearance but it seemed that's where the similarities stopped. He wasn't creepy like his brother. This man was interested in other things his brother probably found mundane.

She turned her eyes to George, "Mmm… Yes, Mr Perri, we're here about your brother."

"Is he ok?"

"Yes. He's fine. However, there was an assassination attempt this morning that has led us to believe that your brother's life may be at risk. As part of our investigation we need to also ensure that you and your family are not at any risk of being harmed. We are from the homicide squad of the twelfth precinct but have been asked to stay on the case to hopefully prevent a murder." Kate finished with a bit of a smile, unsure she had done that right. They weren't accustomed to working a case without a murdered body. A fact was that they knew Bill Benson had died by an unfortunate accident. This meant they now had to find out who had hired him. Who the hell wanted Tony dead?

"Why are you saying my family might be at risk?" George asked in concern.

"We are required to investigate all avenues and as you are the only direct relative of Tony's we must investigate you and whether you too are at a risk, but at this stage we don't believe you are." She glanced between Rick and George and saw George nod his head in understand. "When is the last time you spoke to your brother?"

"Well Detective, I haven't chatted with Tony in months. We email and text each other on a regular basis but that's about it. You see, we live very different lives."

"We can see that." Rick replied also noticing Kate was not feeling well. Unusually, she had taken her coat off in a cool room because she was hot.

George sat up, scratched his head. "What happened to him?"

Castle put his hand on Kate's shoulder indicating he would take over to give her a minute. She was doing it hard with the hangover. He made a mental note to never again encourage her to drink excessively if she had work the next day. She could drink him under the table but she paid for it more than he did the following day. He saw her shoulders drop with relief.

Rick squinted in thought then began talking, "We have a situation where a hit man fell to his death while he was allegedly trying to shoot your brother," he explained. "You can appreciate we need to talk to all of your brother's family members, his friends, associates and work colleagues in order to rule them out. Tony is fine and he's in protective custody until we sort this out. Tony indicated that you are his only direct family?"

George nodded, "Our parents are both deceased and have been for a while now, like a few years."

"Are you able to verify where you were between five and seven this morning?"

"Sure. I was here in bed. I was up by six to get ready for work as I leave here at about seven thirty. I left work to meet you. The kids were up. My wife followed me into the shower at six twenty like she does every day."

Kate pulled out a photo of the Billy Benson, taken from his vehicular licence records. She held it out to him. "Do you recognise this man? Please take your time."

George took the photograph and studied it. He looked up to each of his guest and shook his head, "No."

Rick said, "You may have seen him in passing. We think he was following your brother. You may well have crossed paths with him."

George studied the photograph for several seconds then shook his head again, "I'm sorry. I don't recognise him at all." He gave the photo back to Kate who slid it back into her notebook. "I will let you know if I remember anything. Please ensure my brother is safe. He is my only family."

"Yes, we are. He's under police protection until this is resolved." Kate replied.

George nodded in appreciation.

"Is there anything you know about your brother that you feel might be risking his life?" She inquired as she crossed her right leg over her left.

"He likes night clubs and he plays around with the women. Every time I see him he has a new girlfriend, but they never last very long."

"Night clubs?" Rick asked, thinking Tony was a bit old for that scene.

"Mmmm. Not my thing." George replied. "He likes the sports cars, ponies and the women."

"Can understand that." Rick thought about that comment. Ryan had investigated Tony Perri's identity details with the NY State Licence department and found that Perri had a van registered in a business name. He would bring it up later with the detectives. He must have missed the bit about Tony owning a sports car.

Kate uncrossed her legs, picked up her items and stood. She then addressed George, "We will leave you to get back to work George. Thank you for your time and if you have any further information you think is relevant please contact us." She handed him her business card with a hint of a smile.

Rick who had stood seconds after Kate led the way to the front door he opened. Kate walked out ahead of him and turned to see the men shake hands.

The pair sat in silence in Crown Vic on their way back to the city. The only noise was the heating that Kate had at the highest heat. It was cold out but inside the car Castle was taking layers of clothing off because it was similar to tropical temperatures.

"That's enough already." He murmured and slid the temperature right down and slipped the widow down half an inch. He felt Kate's eyes glare at him but he ignored her. The moment soon passed.

"There was nothing gained from talking to George Perri," Kate stated.

"Agreed. He doesn't see his brother at all," Castle replied.

Kate's cell phone started to ring with the theme from Starsky & Hutch which she had allocated to Esposito's contact details. Rick rolled his eyes then looked at Kate in disbelief. She smiled in amusement.

"Actor," she hissed.

"Really Kate, isn't that getting a little old?"

"No! Will you pick up?"

"I will." As she was the driver, Rick picked up the call, and greeted, "Beckett's phone."

"Castle?"

"That's me. Who this? Is that you Esposito?" Castle inquired grinning at Kate who rolled her eyes.

"You know it is."

"Dude, the ringtone Beckett has for you is nothing short of embarrassing."

"She still got that Starsky and Hutch theme? Man I'm gonna get hold of her phone and shoot it if she don't change it very soon."

Kate laughed at his tone of voice. Rick chuckled then parroted, "Shoot Beckett's phone? I'll put you on speaker so you can tell her that. Beckett's driving." He held the phone up between them. "Tell her, 'sito."

"Such a jackass, Castle!"

"Sito, what you got for us?" Kate glanced to Rick who wore an expression of distaste at being called a jackass.

"Beckett, the tech guys have swept Perri's apartment and they found bugs in every room. Benson had some serious listening devices that hooked to his cell phone and no one else's."

"That's cool stuff." Castle remarked.

"Okay. Well we figured they would find them." Kate said, "Where are you now?"

"Ryan and I are on our way to the hotel room. We know Benson's car is in the basement of the hotel but apparently there's nothing in it. Totally clean. Forensics are going through it now. We're going to take a look at it and his hotel room."

"Wait for us. We'll see you there. We've left the brother's house. He doesn't have a clue and has an alibi."

"How long will you be?"

Rick glanced to his watch, "We should be there by about two twenty."

"Yup. Ummm .. We'll go grab a bite to eat. Ryan's weak and needs food."

"I understand," Kate replied, "My fiancé doesn't like to feed me. He is trying to keep me skinny for the wedding."

"Wedding?" Rick queried, "Did you hear that Espo? Beckett's willingly talking about a wedding. Who are you and what have you done to Detective Beckett?"

"Castle! You're the one who put the ring on my finger…and wants to marry me soon."

"That's because we want more out of what …"

"Unbelievable." Esposito said and hung up the call.

Castle and Beckett fell silent, both of them looking at Kate's phone momentarily. They shrugged their shoulders and laughed. "He can't cope with us." Kate said.

"No one gets us," Rick replied, "But so long as we get each other we're okay."

Kate smiled in understanding. "It's complicated, but it works."

"Yup, and don't over think it." He placed her phone in the console and reached over to Kate's cheek he playfully pinched. She swiped his hand away like she would an insect. He laughed, avoided her hand and teased her some more, "So Beckett is looking at a wedding date again?"

"Castle," she threatened.

"No, no. I want to talk about this," he insisted.

"I have a gun. Anyway, you're right."

"Do you want to do what we talked about last time?" He asked in surprise.

"Nothing crazy like space or roller coaster weddings."

"No, I'm talking about the quiet wedding. Maybe then, a couple of days after the wedding, we would fly out to dine at one of the best restaurants in San Francisco to celebrate together, which could evidently be a weekend or more away on vacation." He bit his lip waiting for her thoughts. He momentarily returned to a weekend when they had gone away just after they were engaged. They had arrived late very late in California, had spent most of their Saturday morning in bed doing the obvious. During the afternoon they had been to tourist traps. Then she had gone to appointments to have her hair and make-up done professionally for the evening. They had gone out for dinner then seen a show. On the Sunday they had skated about the city with no real plans, had made friends with people they met in coffee shop and consequently dined with and had flown home late in the evening.

Kate grinned, "We had so much fun in California. How could we do better than that?"

"I was thinking the same thing. You were so hot in that pink dress."

"You say that with everything I wear, Castle," she duly noted with a sweet tone that didn't fail to reach Rick's heart.

He smiled thinking about how she had looked that evening. Simply breathtaking. "Because you do. I'm easy, lingerie works for me, so does that white t-shirt with your blue denim jeans."

"If I had only figured that out earlier."

"Told you it would be great."

"I know." She murmured kind of wishing she had accepted his offer of a date in the alley that late afternoon.

"So it's no to a big wedding," he concluded, trying not to sound too happy.

Her whole face lit up with excitement, "Let's elope to get married, huh?"

Okay. That one kind of surprised him. It also kept coming up. He looked to her with surprise written over his entire face, thinking she was the type of woman who would like a simple ceremony, but a wedding with the dress and the guests nonetheless, "Seriously Beckett, you don't want the big dress, the bridesmaids ..?"

"The headaches, the pain and suffering that comes with the big wedding plans? Your mother?" She screwed her nose up, "No Castle, let's elope. Maybe get married at your beach house."

Rick sat up looked forward to where they were travelling and scratched his nose in thought, "Beach house. Okay. I can do that especially when you bring my mother into the mix. You let me know when, where and what to dress in and I'll be there. The beach house is a great idea."

Kate nodded. "I will Castle. I promise."

"I can organise the gardener to prepare the property, we could organise it out on the front lawn."

"Yes, I thought of that."

"Or if the weather gets ugly there is the pool house."

"Yes."

"Alright then. That's settled." He sighed, guessing they had now covered that topic and it was time to move on, "What do you want to eat?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 - Hotel**

Half an hour later Kate parked the Crown Vic out the front of the hotel that Billy Benson had been living at. She was feeling better since their second meal and the conversation in the car about getting married had also taken a load off her shoulders. They hadn't discussed the wedding or a date for a while and Kate hadn't raised it because they also still needed to discuss the topic of moving in together. She did want to lose the privacy and seclusion her apartment offered her. Today that subject had yet again been nicely avoided. Kate had dwelled on it as she had eaten lunch at the diner. They both ate burgers with fries and cola. That was the meal that also entirely resolved the hangover and cleared Kate's head.

Kate passed the keys to the concierge but told him to keep the car close. Realistically she was surprised the hotel had a valet service and as a precautionary measure she checked his identification badge pinned to his suit lapel to ensure he wasn't about to take off with the new unit that she had finally been given.

Surprisingly, the hotel was reasonable and clean. It was an establishment where one could rent a room cheaply by the hour or for an extended stay. Kate figured one could in reality rent any hotel room for an hour depending on one's budge. Castle for instance, could afford a hotel on the upper side for an hour. He wouldn't be seen on this side of town if it weren't for him being her partner.

On their way through the entrance Kate phoned Ryan to find a place to meet the boys. They walked into the foyer and manoeuvred their way past what seemed to be a team of female hockey players who were trying to reach the elevators first. They let the girls go ahead then rode alone in a second elevator to the fourth floor in silence.

On the fourth storey they found the boys waiting outside the room. They were tossing a rubber ball to and fro.

"Enjoy your lunch guys?" Kate asked as they took the final steps to the men. She looked them up and down. Esposito, in addition to the sessions they had at the Precinct's gym, had been spending more time at the gym with Lanie. His muscles were becoming quite defined as Lanie had pointed out to Kate recently during one of their girl chats. She tried hard to dismiss it, but a smile crept over her face as she imagined Lanie telling her about how perfect Espo's buns were now he was pushing weights. She sobered and put on the poker face. It wasn't the time to dwell on BFF chit chat about the men they slept with.

Rick caught her expression. "What?"

"Nothing. Just thinking to myself Castle." She murmured back.

"It was good. You would have loved it. Ryan had a vegie burger and I had a juicy beef burger while we read the Ledger." Esposito finished his statement with his eyes on Rick daring the writer to retaliate.

Rick's expression turned serious and he glared at Esposito. He could see Ryan smirking, his attention directed at Castle as he said.

"Yeah, great meal. Amazing who you read about in the newspaper too."

Rick put a finger to his lips to silence the guys who snickered.

Kate decided to play along with Castle now she knew the boys were threatening him, "That reminds me Castle, I need to contact the photographer to order copies of the ones taken at the wedding of us." Kate looked at Rick who seemed horrified, then to the guys. Her brow furrowed and she looked at them like a school teacher who had caught the kids doing something wrong. "What's going on?" She demanded of all of them.

Esposito replied first, "What you talking about Chica? Nothing's happening."

"How did I end up working with three men?" She inquired.

"You were lucky?" Ryan replied and heard the snickers from the audience.

Rick continued, "Come Beckett. Can we get past this and go in the room. I have a hangover headache I would really like to nurse it with a glass of good quality Scotch." He grinned at his fiancé well aware he was skating on thin ice with her because she definitely knew something fishy was going on between the men.

Ryan used a key to access the hotel room Billy Benson had rented while he had been in New York. Their guns ready they entered the room and searched it rapidly for any occupants. Once they were satisfied they met by the bed and looked about them. The room was basic, but neat. A packed suitcase was at the end of the bed still open and waiting to be finalised. With gloves on the group of four scanned the room. They searched through every drawer, underneath all the furniture.

After sweeping under one side of the bed, Kate moved to the suitcase and started to shuffle through the layers of folded clothes. Everything was in black. She was conscious there may be needles concealed. A few t-shirts, a couple of sweaters, few pairs of jeans and plenty of underwear. Her fingers felt the hardness of the file first. She pinched the edge of it and pulled out a file.

"Castle," she summoned only loud enough for him to hear. He finished his search beneath the other side of the bed before he rose. He was at her side almost immediately waving a wallet under her nose. She held up the file to show it to him then laid it on top of the clothes and opened it up.

"You first," Rick offered and dropped the wallet on the bed near the suitcase. He leaned over her left shoulder observing as Kate sifted through pages and pages of hand written notes, printed material until she finally flipped to the photographs. She picked them up and looked through them with Rick watching.

"Each picture is of Tony Perri." She murmured.

"He's taken a lot of photos Beckett. The collection is almost an inch thick."

She slipped her finger between photos to hold them open. "There were images taken from the apartment Benson rented when the tree was full of leaves Castle."

"There's also some of Perri on the streets, at work, in a park and in a night club. It seems that everywhere Perri ventured, Benson took photographs. Benson has had surveillance on Perri for months," Castle lifted out a sheet of paper with handwriting on it. He read it, scanning the information quickly. "This guy was trying to find something."

"We are thinking along the lines that Benson was hired to assassinate Perri." Kate begun, looking at Rick, "But what if, like we said earlier, that it was Benson who wanted Perri terminated?" She suggested and looked over her shoulder to Ryan's eyes to see whether he agreed too. She handed the photographs to Ryan for him to look through.

Rick shrugged his shoulders watching Ryan and Esposito as they flicked through the pictures, "It's a possibility. Maybe Perri owed money to Benson and he's not telling us."

"We all know he's shifty," Ryan said, "I have Benson's laptop here. We can get the techs to go through after they're done with his cell phone."

Kate nodded and glanced about the tired hotel room, wondering what it would be like to be holed up in a place like this for so long. Least he had had the laptop to keep himself occupied, "Hopefully, Gates will pull us off this case and we can get back to what we're meant to do," she remarked, "Solve murders."

"C'mon Beckett, where's the fun in that? It's different looking for the reason rather than the murderer."

"Perhaps. What have you got?"

Rick reached to the wallet and picked it up flipping it open. The wallet belonged to Billy Benson. It held the standard plastic cards and about $200 in cash. No photographs or personal notes. Rick dropped it in a bag, zip locked it and passed it to Ryan who inspected its outer casing.

Kate left the suitcase and wandered the entire hotel room noting that in the bathroom Benson still had his toiletries laid out on the vanity. A single toothbrush was beside the toothpaste. He had planned to return to the hotel room, to finish cleaning up before he would leave.

"How long had he been staying in this room?" She asked anyone who was listening.

As she predicted, it was Ryan who replied. "He's been here four days. He been coming and going from this joint for about nine weeks."

"When he could have stayed at the apartment?"

"No finger prints in the apartment. CSI said it was clean." Ryan replied.

Rick interjected, "Yeah, but I bet we would find them here."

"I do too." There aren't any latex gloves in the trash. He was living here normally." She commented looking in the bin by the bathroom sink. "He was expecting to get out of here today. We need to find who he was going home to."

"Forensics will be up here once they've finished with the car." Esposito said.

"I'll take this wallet back to the Precinct and see what we find in it." Ryan replied. "We'll also go through the file."

"Great idea. We'll drop by to visit Lanie at the morgue. She has something."

Exactly one hour later Castle and Beckett stood across the autopsy table from Lanie Parish peering down at the body of Billy Benson. The autopsy had been completed and the body was stitched and cleaned. Benson's caved in head didn't look half as bad as it had at the scene of his sudden demise.

Regardless, Kate kept her eyes up to Lanie as she peeled back the cotton sheet exposing the dead man's face.

"So?" Kate inquired, anxious for Lanie to break the silence. "What happened?"

Lanie breathed in, casting her eyes over the body of the man who had died in his early thirties. She then looked between Castle and Beckett who both held their usual expressions of anticipation whenever they entered the morgue to view a body, "I heard you two figured out Mr Benson here accidentally fell from the balcony because of a treadmill?"

"Mmm. That's right." Kate replied, "What did you learn?"

"That he wasn't pushed and he wasn't involved in a fight or scuffle with anyone else immediately before his death. He definitely fell by accident."

"And, how have you proved that?" Rick wanted to know the answer because to him the answer was clear at the scene. It made sense that he had unexpectedly fallen from the rail to his ill fated death. It was the logical way to think about it. However, Rick was interested in hear why Lanie thought the same thing based on what forensic evidence she had found on the body of the deceased man.

"Well, he didn't sustain any typical injuries of a fight. What killed this man was the impact to his skull and he also broke his neck at the C1 vertebrae. He severed his spinal cord at this point." She touched her gloved hand at the base of the dead man's skull.

"If he cracked his head on the pavement, the moment he hit the ground from the height he fell, he would have hit with more than eighteen hundred pounds of pressure. That could easily snap his neck." Rick commented screwing up his nose in disgust.

The women looked at Castle, both inquisitive to know how he knew that but neither dared to ask. He usually didn't need encouragement to tell a story. Rick saw the girls were silently questioning his resources and shrugged his shoulders. "I saw it on a sports science program about how dangerous cheer leading can be. A lot of cheerleaders die."

"Okay. So he hit the ground with eighteen hundred pounds of pressure on impact. He broke his neck." Lanie confirmed.

"And skull." Rick pointed to the guys crushed in head. "That undeniably took a bit of a beating."

"That too," Kate said.

"Also, his blood works did not indicate any elevated levels of cortisol or adrenaline to support the theory that he was involved in a fight for his life. In fact he was quite the opposite. This man was remarkably calm and at rest in the minutes prior to his untimely death. If he was going to shoot someone it was a calculated and a well planned task. He certainly was not anxious about it. He was trained to do the job. The CSI guys also said there was humidity this morning and he could have simply slipped on moisture on the railing."

Kate gave the body one final glance, "Mmmm … so the evidence indicates he was planning to kill Perri for reasons we are yet to find out, if we ever do. He was personally motivated or was paid to terminate Perri."

"Until the second he slipped and fell." Rick added and shrugged his shoulders when both the girls glared at him for stating the obvious. He decided he needed to provide some useful information. "So also based on what Espo has indicated this guy was probably a sniper in the military at some stage, but he's not a known assassin."

"That's my guess." Lanie confirmed giving Rick a smug look as he did in return.

Kate heavily breathed out in frustration, "So it's definitely not a murder we have on our hands."

"I'm sorry Honey, but although is intentions were wrong, his death was due to an accident." Lanie concluded as she pulled the sheet over the body of Benson.

Beckett and Castle breathed a collective sigh of relief that body viewing time was over. Neither of them enjoyed that part of the job and they preferred it if Lanie phoned in her findings.

Kate glanced at Rick and said to him, "I need to go speak to the Captain, see if I can persuade her to pull us off the case."

Rick sighed in exasperation, "C'mon Katie, this case is fun. Let's poke around a bit more until Gates finds out and takes us off it."

Both the women stared at each other momentarily then looked at Rick with death stares. He glanced between both of them, "Do you ladies practise this death stare stuff when you have girl time together?" He smiled, "You're so good at it, both of you," and with that Rick Castle turned and walked from the morgue to the corridor leaving the women alone to think about his comment. He heard their girlish laughter which caused him to smirk.

In the morgue, Lanie completely covered the body with the blue cotton sheet, "What's with the picture of Castle with those two women hanging off him in today's Ledger, Sweetie? You know about that?"

Kate smiled mischievously, glancing back to the door to ensure Rick didn't return, "You've seen it huh?"

"Good Lord Girl, of course I have! Everyone is talking about it. Friends of yours have been texting me to ask if you two are still together. We have bets going that Castle is going to be in the dog house when you find out."

Kate released an uncontrolled spurt of laughter in the form of a very loud, "Ha!" She shot a quick look to the door to see if Rick didn't come back in response to her noise. She leaned over the body and stated with a whispered voice so Castle wouldn't hear, "I already know about it Lanie. I'm pretending I don't know to see what Castle does."

Lanie's eyes narrowed momentarily at her best friend, finding it odd and suspicious that she wasn't all huffy and puffy about the picture in the paper, "You are such a sneak, Kate Beckett. You would usually be pissed off at Castle for that."

"I know right?" She snorted in amusement and followed Lanie to her desk where they were further away from the swinging doors that led to the corridor.

"Javy has been going on about it all day. Driving me mad with the texts."

"I figured the guys have been threatening Castle that they will tell me unless they get the use of his Ferrari."

"They are doing exactly that Honey." Lanie held up her phone to show Beckett the picture of the two boys holding the Ledger opened to page 6."

Kate peered at the picture releasing a laugh, "Mmmm… just wait till I get hold of Espo."

"I would love to see that."

"Castle believes I haven't noticed his odd behaviour. He's been concealing it from me all morning."

"He told the boys that you already know."

"What?" Kate glanced to the doorway. "No. He's bluffing. He thinks I don't know. He's been concealing the paper all morning."

"Are you sure about that Kate?"

"Yes. It's hilarious for me to be able to beat Rick at his own game."

"Well he's got the boys bluffed that you know. They've been waiting to see your mood to see whether Castle is telling the truth. After you met them at the hotel room the bets were raised all round. Espo thinks you would have been in a foul mood if you had known about the girls."

"I've been in a foul mood with hangover, the picture doesn't bother me."

Lanie looked at Kate in surprise, "Really Honey?"

"Yeah, I'm cool about it. Castle says I was taking phone numbers from guys last night so I guess we're even." She held up her phone. "I have extra contacts in my phone today that I don't recognise."

Lanie laughed, "You go girl. Well, Esposito wants the Ferrari for a week."

"No. It's Castle's car. Well I will continue to play along." She smiled mischievously, at which point Lanie rolled her eyes. Kate continued, "They are good pictures of us. I ordered prints this morning, all of them. I'm gonna tell Castle at dinner tonight that I placed an order for all of them. He told me earlier he has ordered the pictures taken of _us_." She threw a couple of quotes in the air.

"He's very sharp, Kate, don't you think he will figure it out?"

"No, no. With my order coming in as well, I will be able to watch him squirm tonight and then try to intercept the mail over the next few days. Will be fun."

"Kate Becket, you are really a sneak. But that doesn't answer my question. Who are the women?"

"Oh yeah…" She smiled and hooked her hair behind her ears, "Ummm… according to what I remember because I was quite arrrr… well I was totally pissed. Castle introduced me to one of his ex's named Mandy and it was her BFF." She shrugged her shoulders indicating she didn't care less about who the stranger was. She looked down and lifted her necklace out. She held up the impressive diamond engagement ring she normally wore on her finger. "I have this and he's not going anywhere." She let the chain go and felt the rings slide down her chest.

Lanie rolled her eyes, "Yes, he is crazy about you."

"I know. Let us know if you find out any more." Kate said as she backed up a few steps then turned and walked out of the morgue to meet with Richard. She found him leaning against the wall his right arm folded over his chest, a grin worn well over his face. He was texting someone and was completely unaware Kate was in the corridor when he chuckled, "Oh Espo, you jackass. You think you're so smart."

She wasn't sure what he was talking about but the sight of him caused her heart to momentarily pick up its pace for a couple of beats, her chest to hum with delight. In fact, every cell of her being, her soul, buzzed and came to life with his presence. It all felt too good. She stopped before him but leaned into his space.

He looked over her whole face, analysed her expression before a wise smile spread over his face, "You know don't you," he rhetorically asked of her, "and don't lie to me."

"Know what?" She creased her brow, lifted her fingers to the collar of his shirt that she pinched. A guilty expression took over her face.

"C'mon Beckett," he pressed using a tone that told her not to insult his intelligence.

"Oh." She glanced between his eyes and lips she wanted to kiss, "You mean that picture of you in the Ledger hanging over those tramps? Of course I know. I saw the pictures on line."

"Oh." He was a little surprised she so readily admitted it, then instantly added, "I'll make it up to you."

"If you want to, but I'm not worried. They're not the woman who sleeps with you every night," she purred.

Rick smiled with pride. She was finally getting over her insecurities with him and other women. "True. I guess I'm the lucky guy."

She grunted, shrugged her shoulders and bit her lip. She was ready to drop the subject. "Can we continue having fun with the boys? They're waiting to see my reaction."

Rick grinned keen to continue the charade especially now he had Kate on his side. Together they could really get the guys. "Sure."

"I'm going home Rick. I'm beat." She said dropping the subject.

"You look it." Rick glanced to the time. It was a little after 6.00 pm and that had been on the go since dawn, "I'm ready to call it a day." He looked right then left, saw they were alone and stood up straight, "Are you staying with me tonight, Katie?" He put his hands to her upper arms and pressed his lips to her forehead.

"What you got in mind for dinner? There's nothing in my fridge."

He smirked and stroked back strands of her hair, "When is there ever something in your fridge?"

"Rhetorical?"

"Yes."

"Any preferences?"

"Haven't thought about it. What are you thinking?"

She smiled, shook back her hair and bit her bottom lip momentarily, "How about we buy take out on the way home…"

He screwed his nose up at that idea, "I know. How about I prepare our dinner while you take a bath. I'll make your favourite."

"Deal, so long as we can get some wine on the way home."

"Absolutely, if you think you can drink wine tonight." He held out his arm for her to hook hers into.

"Yeah, I should probably give that a rest huh?"

"I'm going to have my two fingers of Scotch if that helps you."

"I might join you with that," she replied as they walked back to the Precinct to collect her belongings.

In the elevator Rick mumbled. "You really want to keep playing along with this game with the boys?"

"I think we should."

Rick grinned and clapped his hands, "Let's do it. Do you know or don't have a clue?"

Kate screwed up her face in thought then smiled at Rick, "I don't have a clue. Let's go with that."

"Yeah! Cool. So then you should know the boys have left a copy of the Ledger on your desk."

She nodded, "Okay."

The doors of the elevator opened and Kate stepped out ahead of Rick. She commenced her usual stride down the corridor to her desk with Rick catching up with her. The moment she arrived at her desk she sighted the paper haphazardly left on her desk. It was folded and part of the picture of them was exposed. She glanced to Ryan and Esposito who quickly looked away. Knowing she had their attention she picked up the paper.

"What are you doing Kate? We have to leave. Grab your bag." Castle ordered.

"I need to see whether any of the photos of us taken yesterday made it to today's Ledger."

"No. No. We didn't get in it. Maybe they will be in tomorrow's edition. Where is your purse?" He held her leather jacket open for her to put on. She obeyed and slipped her arms into it.

They heard the snickering from all around them in the bull pen and noticed people glancing about. Kate felt it and decided to really roll with it. She put on her bossy voice. "Did you look?"

Rick gave her a glare as he pulled her hair out for her, thinking she put on that tone just a little too well. If he didn't know she was putting it on for their audience he would have sworn it was authentic. Acting as well as Beckett did, he replied, "I did at breakfast in the diner."

"He promised me we would make the paper."

"You were intoxicated. He probably said lots of things. I'm surprised you actually remember the pictures being taken." Castle waited for Kate to grab her purse, watching her fluff about with her elephants and pens on her desk.

"I wasn't that intoxicated." Kate stated as she picked up her bag and commenced her stride along the corridor. Together, they walked towards the elevator listening to the banter going on behind them. Once they were inside the box and were going to the ground floor, they leaned on the back wall. Kate laughed. Rick smirked and said, "Well played, Beckett."

"I thought so. Did you see them?"

"I did. I was so proud of you when you put on the bossy tone."

"What bossy tone?"

"Arrr… Never mind. Did you see the money changing hands?"

"Yuss!" She held up her hand and they slapped a high five in the air. "So much fun playing them at their own game."

"We'll have to plan it for tomorrow."

The strong jet of hot water spraying against his shoulder blades and neck helped ease the stiffness in Castle's shoulders and upper back. He groaned in pleasure and tilted his head back so he was beneath the shower for a little while. He then reached for the shampoo and lathered it in his hair. Sunday and the long day working had taken its toll on him. He wanted to relax with a drink on the couch for awhile before he cooked dinner. He had left Kate minutes earlier at the kitchen counter. She had gotten busy sorting through mail they had collected from her apartment on the way home. He rinsed his hair and soaked his head beneath the stream of water.

His frayed nerves jumped when he heard a high pitched squeal. It was quickly followed with noisy laughter coming from the office. He smiled because he knew what Kate had found. She must have finished sorting her mail and was placing it on the desk where they would deal with it later. She had seen her prize. He'd held off on saying anything all day, particularly because he wondered whether she actually remembered what had happened the evening before when they had been at the bar with friends for a couple of hours. When Kate Beckett had a bit to drink she was a very funny and an oddly outgoing person. She also loved to sing in front of an audience. Sober, she wouldn't so much as entertain the idea of performing on stage but once she'd had a few drinks it was a different story.

Last night, before he had gone to bed he had placed the trophy on the middle his desk hoping she would have noticed it that morning when she was dressing for work. Now, he was surprised she was as noisy as she sounded because being the end of the day she had been quite weary. She had been looking forward to a bath when they had arrived home.

"Castle!" She called as she entered the bathroom. She tapped on the glass with her nails. He wiped away the steam and smiled at her glistening happy eyes. She was wearing a sloppy joe and loose shorts.

"What is it Baby?"

"Look! I won the Karaoke!" She laughed and flashed him the trophy of a microphone. It wasn't much bigger than her hand but still, it was a trophy. "How crazy is that?"

"And you don't remember a thing about it, my wannabe pop star," he laughed. "Now I can tease you when you start on me about looking like that space cowboy from the TV show."

"Well, you do look like him. Did I sound ok?"

Rick laughed, "Which song? Remember, we had to drag you off the stage."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. You also made friends that night. Did you notice a few extra names in your contacts list today?"

"Well now you say it, yes I did. I thought you were messing with me."

He smiled at her, wondering whether she would ever realise how much he protected her. He let her put the phone numbers in her phone but had ensured she didn't give her number out to anyone. She had been hit on so many times on Sunday evening. He and one of his old pals had been constantly keeping her safe. "Put down your trophy and get in here, Beckett."

"I won the Karaoke, Castle." She sung and pumped her little trophy in the air.

"I know you did. Hurry up already."

"I'm going to have a bath."

"Oh no. Shower tonight," he corrected, "I want to get that position right."

Kate stared at his alluring expression for several seconds as she thought about the image he'd just seeded in her mind. He smiled and lowered his gaze to her chest. She instantly put the trophy on her vanity in a place she would keep it to look at when she was putting on her makeup. She stripped herself of her clothing then stepped into shower straight into his arms.


	8. Chapter 8 - workplace

**Chapter 8**

Kate's iPhone sung out and vibrated on her desk. She turned from the white board to it and when she saw who was calling she picked up a smile rapidly spreading over her face. "Morning sleeping beauty." She sat at her desk and relaxed.

"You didn't wake me," Castle sleepily mumbled sounding genuinely disappointed.

Kate bit her lip as she recollected staring at him in been that very morning, "You looked too cute." She knew he would be scuffing his slippers over the floor to the coffee machine, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his left hand.

"Sure I did. Where are you?"

"At the Precinct."

"I'll be there soon. I'm about to shower after I have my first coffee."

"Bring me …."

"A bear claw. I know."

"Thanks."

"Arrr, you beautiful thing you left the coffee on for me."

"Of course I did, Castle." She heard him pour the coffee and release an _Arrhhhhh_ when he smelt the aroma.

"Flavour country," he chuckled, "I'll be there soon. Love you."

"Me too. See you soon." Kate hung up. She lingered momentarily on the two last words he'd said to her, that he loved her. She stared at the photo of them on her iPhone their cheeks pressed together, wearing happy grins. It had been taken last weekend at the wedding. She gave herself a moment to enjoy the way her tummy buzzed and that he had caused a smile to spread across over her face. She couldn't wait to marry him.

The moment done with, she put the phone down on the desk then turned her attention back to the photographs. She had ordered copies of all the photos from Benson's file and memory disk to be printed overnight and had browsed through the entire collection that morning. She had separated the photos into two piles on her desk. She gazed over the second white board. It was certainly busy and a third was about to get as crowded.

She glanced up to see Esposito and Ryan approach their desks from the breakout room.

"Morning Beckett," Ryan called out as he dumped his coat over the back of his chair.

"Morning Ryan, Espo."

"Beckett," Espo said and looked about the bull pen, "Where's your off-sider?"

"He needs more beauty sleep than I do," Kate replied as she stood up.

"That's for sure. What you got there?" Espo stopped beside Beckett and scanned the board for any additional information Beckett and Castle may have stumbled upon during the night.

"Copies of Benson's surveillance photos." She passed him the reduced set and put one of them up on the third and smallest board she had rolled out early. With a red whiteboard marker she printed '_Benson's surveillance_' across the top. Esposito and Ryan helped with hanging the pictures of Perri at the various places Benson had photographed him. They grouped them according to the places Perri was in each picture.

Castle arrived not long after the last photo was placed on the board. The detectives were seated along the edge of Beckett's desk staring at the three boards. He stopped by Kate and passed her a coffee cup and paper bag.

"Hey." He said to Kate.

"Hey. You go me a claw! Thanks."

"No worries," He gazed over the new third board that wasn't there last night when he left.

"Hey Castle." Ryan greeted. Esposito and Castle toughed knuckles and nodded. Castle sat beside Kate and gently knocked her shoulder. It received a smile from her.

"What you guys doing? I mean besides staring silently at the boards."

"Trying to find a common theme in Benson's pictures."

"Well yes, I can see there is not a single bit of doubt in this deep pool of detective minds that the photos are of importance." Castle commented.

"They are, but we don't know why." Ryan said.

"The focal point on the entire collection is Perri. He's at work, at home, at night clubs."

"So Benson took photos of Perri going about his daily life. Why did he do that? What motivated him to follow Perri so diligently and for so long?" Castle asked then took a sip of his coffee.

"I don't know. There are other people in the photos but nothing's consistent," Kate replied looking at Castle. She turned her attention to Esposito and Ryan, "Last night before we left here, Castle and I read through Benson's notes and as you pointed out Castle, his handwritten notes were mostly about times of the day Perri was at places each day. Nothing about what he was doing."

"Yeah, like he jogged every morning at the same time, left for work at the same time, ate lunch at the same diner, left for home in the evening to catch the same train."

Kate continued, "He grocery shops every Wednesday evening and Saturday morning. He's a bookie on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and steps out to night clubs Friday and Saturday nights. Sunday evenings he orders take out and eats at home."

"Nothing jotted down about who Perri was seeing, just the times," Castle confirmed.

"The man was predictable. He was boring. So who wanted Perri dead and why?" Kate asked.

Ryan leaned over Beckett's collection of elephants to pick up the financial records of Benson. "What have we got here?" He scanned through them again to see if they had missed anything.

"Jack shit." Espo replied, "We've been through them with a fine tooth comb.

"True," Ryan tossed the file back to her desk.

"Let's give this line of investigation a rest, after all, it's not a murder and the alleged murderer is lying in the morgue waiting for a relative to formally identify him and take his body for the funeral." Kate said. "Can you guys chase up the police where Benson lives and see whether they have any information? Castle and I have to go and talk to Perri's co-workers."

Shortly after Castle and Beckett drove out to meet the people Tony Perri worked with during the weekdays. They figured they wouldn't find any leads at his workplace but for the thoroughness of the case they decided to tick that box off. Beckett parked out front of a small commercial building. Inside the structure, they rode the elevator to the sixth floor. With Rick slightly behind her, Kate approached the reception desk which was manned by a young blond woman wearing a low cut shirt.

Kate maintained eye contact, but contemplated where Rick's eyes would be directed. As he was behind her, she had to trust he was being a gentleman, "Hi, I'm Detective Beckett, here to see Mr Ben Simpson. I phoned earlier." She briefly showed her badge which was attached to her black compendium.

"Of course Detective. Mr Simpson asked me to offer you the use of one of our conference rooms where you will be able to privately speak to the staff," the blond said as she stood and stepped from behind her desk.

Castle observed the receptionist wore a snug white business shirt over a generous bodice, with a black fitted mini skirt. Her high heels didn't give her any ground on Kate's height but they were impressive shoes. She wasn't tall at all but she certainly made up for it with a rather curvy cute body.

He remained discreet as he checked out the younger woman's assets as he tagged along behind the women to the meeting room they had been given access to. He saw Kate glance suspiciously over her shoulder at him. He calmly raised an eyebrow his expression neutral.

In the meeting room he stopped walking and glanced about them. It was an external room with a view of New York's might fine skyline. He took a moment to savour the view of his home. He then turned about. There was a long conference table that seated approximately ten people, a flat screen, and a wall cabinet in the same grain as the table. Upon the cabinet sat a silver serving tray with a half dozen upturned glasses and a jug which he assumed contained chilled water. On the wall were pictures of what he saw were staff involved in various charity work.

As the receptionist asked if they wanted coffee and took their orders, because of the natural light in the room Rick noted that her hair was naturally ginger. She had bright blue eyes and a friendly smile. Unlike his daughter this young woman enjoyed the sunshine and wore the freckles over her cheeks. When she left the room, she closed the door behind her promising that Mr Simpson would be right with them.

"Wow." Kate murmured as she sat in a chair at the long side of the table.

Rick sat to her right, "What?" He knew exactly what Beckett was commenting about but he was in the mood to let her explain her thoughts.

"The buttons of her shirt certainly have a job on their hands."

Rick snorted, shocked by Kate's comment. "Beckett!" He never expected her to make such a remark, but then again he had seen her jealous of other women's boobs.

Her eyes widened, "Well!"

He leaned on the table and looked at his girlfriend in amusement, "I agree those buttons were under duress. But if I had mentioned it." He waved a hand dismissing his own sentence.

"I know, Castle, I would have gone off the deep end at you." She smiled at him. "But you can see my point of view here."

"Yes, I can. But in saying that, she's a very attractive young lady," he carefully offered up, "But she's not much older than my daughter and that makes it all too creepy to think about it anymore." He shuddered then looked at Kate who was laughing at him.

"But it's different when it's about me." She commented.

"You're my girlfriend. I've seen all of you," He said then smiled cheekily.

"Would you date a girl like her?"

"Nope, I'm engaged to you."

"I mean if you were single?"

"I'm not single."

"Castle, will you stop being logical? Leave that to me."

"Touché Beckett." He chuckled.

"Castle."

He put on a serious expression, "Do I really have to answer this? I don't ask you these kind of things."

She dropped their gaze to organise her note book, "You can if you want."

"Okay. Remember that," he warned.

"I will. So would you date a woman like her?"

"No, I wouldn't."

"Why not? You said she's cute."

"Well, I said she's very attractive, but yes, I agree with you, she's very cute. And to answer your questions, although she's attractive, she's not tall enough."

"That's your cut off? Height?"

"Certainly. I prefer tall women and anyway it's not all about the physical stuff. There has to be chemistry."

"Okay." Kate opened her folder and flipped her note pad to a fresh page. She found a pen in her bag then wrote the date at the top of the page.

"Is that all you're gonna ask?" Rick inquired, shocked by her sudden dismissal of the conversation.

"Yes. It's all I wanted to know."

Rick watched as she cast her eyes to his face, her expression a little timid. He always thought it was a cute look she gave when she accepted how crazy she sometimes behaved. He smiled at her eyes. "I know," he whispered and instantly saw her blush.

"I don't know what you're talking about Castle."

He laughed but stopped when he heard the door handle move. They stood up as a man in his late forties entered the room and closed the door. He was very tall, slim with grey hair and brown eyes.

He approached Castle, "Sorry to keep you, Detective Beckett …." he reached out a hand to shake Castles, as he stepped around the table to meet the man, "I'm Rick Castle," he greeted.

"Oh, sorry. Nice to meet you, Rick. I'm Ben Simpson."

Castle held out his arm to Kate, "This is Detective Kate Beckett."

"Detective, lovely to meet you."

"Mr Simpson, thank you for your time this morning." Kate said as she leaned over to shake his hand.

"Please, call me Ben."

"Ben," She glanced from Rick to Ben who was four inches taller than Rick and very slim for a man.

"What can I help you with Detective?" Everyone took their seats.

Kate took a deep breath and rested her elbows on the table, "We have a situation Ben in which Tony Perri's life was threatened this morning. As you know he was picked up from here and he is currently in protective custody."

"Yes, I was here with the Police came and escorted him to the station."

Kate nodded, "We require access to your staff who interact with Tony Perri, for approximately ten minutes each to ensure that no one in your business has a bone to pick with Mr Perri."

"We can certainly do that, Detective."

"Does Mr Perri have contact with clients?"

"He certainly does and several of his co-workers are internal clients. I can give you a list of each if you wish."

"Please. Would there be a disgruntled co-worker or client you know of who might be motivated enough to arrange his murder?"

"I don't believe so, well not enough to want to murder him. Any disgruntled clients would complain to management. Staff understand that there is a process implemented by human resources to have any complaints about co-workers formally resolved."

"Fair enough. And so you can confirm you haven't received serious complaints from clients in relation to Tony Perri."

"Not a complaint that would be motive for murder."

Satisfied with his reply, Kate pulled a photograph of Billy Benson from her folder and slid it over the table to Ben Simpson. "Do you recognise this man?"

He picked up the photo and studied it a moment or two. His brow furrowed. "Well, he could be the guy who works in a local coffee shop."

Castle and Beckett glanced to each other. Progress already. They both sat up.

"Can you give me the name of the coffee shop?" Beckett asked.

"Yep, I sure can." He strained a little to see out the window across the street. Castle turned about to follow the man's gaze, "It's the Little Black Dog Coffee Shop. Right over there."

Kate looked out the window and soon found a sign in a window that had exactly that written upon it, "Strange name for a coffee shop." She commented turning back to Ben.

"Yeah. The guy who runs the place has a little fox terrier that sits in the front of the store. He can't go where the food is served but he's allowed to stay up the front. It's an odd establishment but the food is great!"

"Got it." Kate interrupted not interested in hearing the history of the place. She made a note to drop over there when they were on their way out. She continued with her questioning. "Do you know of any person who may have had issues in the past with Mr Perri, any disgruntled staff who may not have taken the matter to HR?"

"No. Tony is a strange man and he keeps to himself."

"Strange, how?" Rick inquired, not surprised at all that the comment had been made.

"Don't get me wrong here, he's a good worker and works hard but he doesn't play nice with his co-workers."

"How so?"

"He's not a team player, tends to isolate himself from the rest of my employees.

Rick persisted. "Is he rude?"

"Not that I've heard. Nothing has been reported to me about him being rude."

"Has anything been reported to you?" Kate asked.

"Not exactly but I've heard via the grapevine that he and one of the women on staff had a few issues after they broke up…"

"What is the name of the woman he had the affair with?" Kate inquired.

"Tania Hocking is her name, but you didn't hear it from me as they kept their relationship quiet."

"We will maintain discreetness as much as we can." Kate confirmed.

"Thank you Detective."

Kate sat back in the chair crossing her hands over her hips. Before them sat the umpteenth person who worked with Tony Perri and once again she was hearing the same response to their standard questions.

"Oh no, he's never insulting or short." Amy Teesdale replied shaking a head full of brown curls that bounced and tangled every time she nodded or shook. Amy's large dark brown eyes narrowed as her smile faded. She leaned in and directing her conversation to Castle she said, "He's quite creepy."

Castle leaned forward too pretending to be interested, "How so Miss Teesdale?"

"He makes the women in the office feel uneasy." Amy looked at the detective, "You know, when certain guys prickle the hair at the back of your neck." She nodded again, the curls bouncing about.

Kate was surprised that Amy looked at her. It was the first time in awhile. "Yes, I know that feeling all too well Amy." She had accepted that all the women in this small business were attracted to Castle like bees to honey and she had allowed Rick to ask the questions because he was getting the women to candidly talk.

"It seems most women get that reaction to this man." Castle remarked as he smiled to Kate who quietly stared back.

"But he never does anything that would provoke that feeling." Kate replied.

"No detective. Its instincts. He's like a darkened alleyway on a winter's night." Amy described, "Does that make sense?"

"Geez, I need to jot that one down." Castle said searching his pockets for a pen and his pad.

"Got it." Kate muttered as she jotted.

Castle smiled because his muse had done it for him. Over the years she'd adapted to his writer needs. Her police notes were littered with writer quotes and ideas. As she always did she drew a square around the note so he could easily locate it later on.

Amy glanced between the two people questioning her, unsure what they were up to. She chose to ignore it and continue talking, "Tony's the sort of guy you keep at a distance. Be nice an all that, but keep him at arm's length. The only one who had a relationship with him was Tania Hocking."

"Tania." Kate murmured. Her name had come up in earlier discussions. "Thank you Amy. Would you please ask the next person to come in?"

As it happened most of the people Tony worked with got along with him if they kept him at arm's length. The exception to that rule was one woman who held a longstanding grudge against him. Every person they interviewed named Tania Hocking. She had been in a relationship with Tony that had lasted only a few months. According to alleged rumours spread via the office grapevine, the relationship had finished badly and ever since she was the woman scorned. Kate gave up jotting down her name when Joe French was the tenth person to mention her. She dropped the pen on her notebook and gave Castle a look, noting his eyebrow rose once again. She leaned forward and rubbed her forehead in weariness when she heard Joe tell them Tania Hocking was spiteful enough to arrange Perri's murder. She heard Castle take a deep breath. He was also growing impatient with the discussions.

"Joe, tell me why you think Tania Hocking would be motivated to murder Mr Perri." Castle asked calmly.

"Because at the Halloween party I saw them fighting. They'd had a bit too much to drink. They had stayed away from each other for months but at the party there was a major argument outside. I shared a cab home with Tania and that's when she told me she knew there was something sinister about Tony. He was trying to get back together with her but Tania wouldn't have it."

"What did she tell you?" Castle asked.

"That he wanted her to get involved in a part of his life. She wouldn't elaborate when I asked her to."

"A recurring theme." Rick commented tapping his finger on the table. "But no one can elaborate."

"Mmmm." Kate replied.

Tania Hocking was the twelfth person who entered the meeting room. She was slim, average height and had long red hair. After almost two hours of interviews, Beckett and Castle were both on the edge of throwing the towel in. But the entrance of the red head had Rick instantly sit up and clear his throat.

Kate observed him, unsure of why she had clearly made him nervous the second she had appeared. Then it occurred to her. It was the red head factor. Tania looked similar to Meredith. It caused Kate to smirk but she held it inside. The red head sat opposite Kate which was odd when she recalled that all the women so far had sat closer to Castle. She sat stiffly and pushed her very long straight hair back behind her shoulders.

Castle, all too familiar with redheaded women soaked her in. She was quite attractive, her hair thick and long. Like the women he knew, she stayed out of the sun to prevent the freckles over her skin. It was the freckles he liked about redheads. He looked to his fiancée who was preparing to take notes for this interview. He could see Kate thought this conversation was going to be the most interesting one for the day. The woman everyone had spoken about was finally in their company. He glanced over Beckett's long brown hair at the freckles she wasn't afraid to have and at her olive complexion. She must have sensed his stare as she looked up at him. She smiled at him, fidgeted then looked to Tania and began.

"Sorry. I was thinking." She turned her attention to the woman. "Your name is Tania Hocking?"

"Yes, it is."

"I'm Detective Kate Beckett and this is my colleague Mr Rick Castle. We're making inquiries about Tony Perri. His life was threatened."

"I know. I heard about it. I kind of wish the guy had taken the shot before he fell."

_She's a redhead._ Rick thought as he abruptly sat up. He was once again reminded of how lucky he was that he was with Kate even if she was challenging in her own way. No more red heads.

"So you are disappointed he wasn't murdered." Kate inquired almost allusively.

Tania stared at Kate for several seconds, "I didn't have my hand on the trigger Detective. If someone else wanted him dead it's not a surprise to me. The guy is a creep. He's weird."

Rick duly noted once again the woman had told Beckett that the guy was a creep, that there was something weird about him. Rick couldn't find any reason not to agree with her. But Tania Hocking was far more assertive and spiteful about it. She evidently had firsthand experience of this other side of Perri that the others hadn't seen. Castle stayed out of the conversation because Tania was comfortable talking to Kate.

"Can you elaborate on that why you say he's a creep? It's a very general description."

Tania fidgeted then said, "We were in a relationship which was great to begin with. You know when its exciting and he's all you can think about."

"Then what?" Kate asked.

"He got kinky in the bedroom. Wanted me to do things I wasn't comfortable with."

"Is that why you broke it off with him?"

"In the end it was, yes."

"Did he physically harm you?"

"No. I didn't let it go that far."

"Tania, did he know this man?" Kate pushed the picture of Benson over. She looked at it.

"He's the guy from the coffee shop."

"Does Tony know him?"

"Only from the shop I would guess but I don't believe in any other way. Tony doesn't drink coffee or tea. He only drinks water or health drinks. He is fanatical about the food he eats. Always going on about protein. He is fond of the salad rolls from across the street. \"

"Okay. Do you know this woman?" She showed Tania a copy of the picture of the woman that had been found in Benson's bag. The woman looked at it carefully for several seconds then handed it back to the detective.

"No. I've never seen her in my life."

"Who the hell is she?" Rick muttered rubbing his thumb and index finger over his brow in weariness.

"Thank you Tania. We'll be in touch. If you think of anything please phone me." Kate passed a business card over the table to her. "What you tell us I can promise you won't be repeated to Mr Perri."

"Thank you." Tania paused a moment like she was on the edge of saying something, but then she stood and left the room.

When she was gone Castle said, "She knows more than she's telling us."

"I know. It's why I gave her the card. She doesn't trust us." Kate tapped the pen on the pad, full of impatience. "Until she spills, all we have is Benson was making coffee over the road and everyone thinks Perri is a creep." She stretched her arms, desperate to move and have a coffee.

"Well, we got that bit right. I think it's time for a coffee, Beckett. My shout."

"Perfect timing Castle. It's always your shout. I would have to take out a loan to repay you."

Castle laughed. She was probably right. "I'll buy the coffee. You talk to the manager."

"Will do."


	9. Chapter 9 the Cafee

_I started writing this story in May 2013 for anyone who is wondering why I'm not following what has happened on the show. I initially wrote a chapter that is still to come then married it up with the beginning which is the part I wrote secondly. It was assumed by the naive writer here that they were separate stories but my creative mind had other ideas. The story grew its own set of legs and took off when I was writing other things, then I set it on the shelf for a number of months only periodically going back to it. I have extracted a chapter out of this story that is going to be a whole new one... so who knows where that one will take me. _

___Please, read on and let me know how its going. _

* * *

**Chapter 9**

The Little Black Dog Coffee Cafe was a hub of activity when Castle and Beckett stepped inside. With much relief they were out of the cold, the café was invitingly warm and the smell of brewing coffee filled their senses. Rick immediately grew excited. Sure enough there was a little foxy dog curled up on its bed in a corner by the door. It was beside a shelf of books, magazines and newspapers all of which were well worn. There were two comfortable and inviting armchairs in front of the book shelf.

"One little dog," Rick said.

"Nice place to sit," Kate commented and pointed at the old leather armchair as she continued to the counter.

"It is. I'll buy you a coffee for sure," he said as he followed her to the counter to order. He was glancing about the entire café amazed by the decor. There was stuff everywhere he looked. He stopped behind Kate's left shoulder and observed the barista.

"Good morning. What can I get you, Luv?" A tall blond man asked with a very Australian accent.

Kate shifted on her feet, unsure about being called _luv._ She glanced at Rick who shrugged his shoulders and kind of smiled in amusement. She looked back at the ruggedly handsome Australian man, produced her NYPD badge and held it up for him to view. "I'm Detective Beckett and this is my colleague Rick Castle. We're here for two large take out coffees, one with two pumps of vanilla, one sugar in the other. We also need to speak to you about this guy, Luv." She promptly held up the photo of Benson that he glanced at. Behind her, Rick snorted.

The Australian smirked in amusement at Kate's attempt to mimic his accent. "Bloody nora! One thing at a time, Detective. You can put your badge away. I've seen it." He waved a hand at the photo, "I can help you with Billy, but I hope you know where the bloody hell he is, because I sure don't and now I'm down a bloke."

Kate dropped her hand, "He's dead."

"Explains a lot," he remarked as he tapped the old coffee beans out into a cylinder.

"Really?" Castle queried. "How so?"

The Australian looked at Rick, "Yeah, for starters, it explains why he's not here."

"True." Rick shrugged his shoulders then gazed around his surroundings satisfied with the barista's reply.

"I'll prepare your coffees and come sit with ya over there in a minute." He pointed to an empty booth. "And that'll be six bucks for your coffees."

Rick fumbled to find coins in his pocket. He was so taken aback with the guy's accent he had forgotten why they were there. The accent was thicker and filled with more slang than he was accustomed to. He passed the barista the money then followed Kate to the booth. She plonked herself heavily on the bench seat and slid over to the window. She rested an elbow on the table, her chin on the palm of her hand. "Wow." She dully said when Rick was comfortable and looked to her.

"Wow, for sure," he replied completely excited and wondering why the hell she wasn't enthusiastic, "I think I have a new character for my next novel Beckett. He's very…." He searched for the right word.

"Australian," Kate replied. "I hate it when they call me Luv."

Rick chuckled at her feeble attempt to get the Australian accent right. He leaned in closer to her and said, "It's Luv."

Kate heard him nail the accent perfectly. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Smart ass."

"Uh instead of A and you have that accent mastered," he teased.

"Never. This is the strangest diner I've ever been in," Kate stated. She gazed about at the Australian aboriginal paintings, of boomerangs hung on walls, outback photographs and pieces of Australian memorabilia. There were Australian stockmen hats hanging from the walls and on the ceiling she saw what she thought was Australian currency pinned up there with names and notes written on each bill.

"This place is so cool. How come I've never heard of it?" Rick picked up the menu.

"We don't come this way." She stared at the money on the ceiling, "I could have brought that five dollar bill rolled up in my elephant."

"Been meaning to ask you how you came across it." He scanned the menu. "The menu includes, meat pies, sausage rolls, steak sandwiches, breakfast menu includes baked beans on toast. Wow Beckett, Dude food."

Kate flipped the menu card over each side and scanned it. "It also has healthier choices."

"Yeah and the place is packed," he commented looking about them. "It's late in the morning and the place is full. This was the only table available."

"Mmmm… busy. Who puts beetroot in salad rolls?" Kate asked pulling an expression of distaste.

"Australians do," he replied. "It's not bad. They also put it in steak sandwiches with fried egg." He read the contents of the steak sandwiches, "I could try their steak sandwiches Kate."

"Not today, Buddy."

"But we're coming back here."

"On a boy's night you might."

"Great idea." He smiled at the Australian who approached with two take out cups of coffee. He served them, then pulled up a chair and sat at the end of the table between them. "Thanks. I'm Rick." He reached out a hand the Australian shook.

"G'day Rick, Andrew Bates. Nice to meet you." He sat smiling at both of them. "So why on earth has Billy shown up dead?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out." Kate replied. "When did you last see him?"

"Yesterday when he finished his shift here, which was about three pm."

"He was due to be at work today?"

"Sure was. He was supposed to start at seven thirty am."

Rick looked at Kate. "He would have been able to do that."

"Mmm," Kate agreed.

"Did he act strangely yesterday?" Castle asked.

"Well now you mention it he did say when he left that he'd see me around which I thought was a little odd."

"How so?"

"Well usually he'd say he'd see me tomorrow."

"We ran financial checks on Mr Benson …arrrr…Mr Bates" She raised her eyebrows at the Australian.

"Sorry, call me Andy."

"Andy. The checks didn't indicate that Mr Benson was receiving an income from your business."

He cleared his throat, "He was paid in cash Detective."

"I see." Kate shifted. She decided to keep it to herself she wasn't worried about tax avoidance, but Andy didn't know that.

"Did he ever discuss anything about this man with you?" She slid a photo of Perri over the table. Andy picked it up and studied it.

"He's the dude who comes in and orders our salad roll. He works in the building over the road, but you know that because I saw both of you enter that building a couple of hours ago."

Castle and Beckett looked at each other. Kate pulled out a photo of the picture of the girl they had found in Benson's belongings.

"No, sorry, never seen her in my life. But hey, don't you think she looks like Billy? Same jaw shape, like yours." He pointed towards Kate jaw giving her a smile.

Rick flipped the picture so he and Kate could study it again. "Oh man, how did I miss that?" Rick exclaimed. "She's a sister or relative of Benson. Did he say he had a sister?"

"Benson didn't say much. He was very good at cooking and making Australian salad sandwiches. He also made a mean meat pie. But he wasn't a talker. He came in on time, he worked hard and he left. I didn't know much more."

"When did he start with you?"

"Oh, He turned up a couple of months ago when I stuck a sign on the front door. He seemed ok so I hired him. He was more than ok at his job."

Rick glanced to Kate. "Seems he was multi-skilled, Beckett."

Kate finished her coffee. "We'll let you go back to work. Do you mind if we call you if with have any further inquiries."

"Yeah sure."

"Here's my card in case you happen to think of anything."

"Thanks."

On the walk back to the car Rick thought about the picture of the girl they had found in Benson's duffel bag. It wasn't unusual for a person to carry photographs of family members.

The other thing that bothered Castle were the photographs Benson had taken of Perri. The collection included a few people they had seen at Perri's place of employment. Neither of them had mentioned the photographs when they spoke to the individuals. It was a mystery to all of them why Benson had such a collection of photographs of Perri with no explanation as to why he had stalked him. There was no indication he was a hired hit man and from evidence collected so far they didn't have motivation for Benson to kill Perri.

He didn't talk about it with Kate. He needed to think about it some more and see if any other information came up in the meantime. On the trip back to the Precinct Kate decided to drop by Tony's apartment because she wanted to check on something she hadn't shared with Castle. He agreed that it wouldn't hurt them to have a look even though Esposito, Ryan and the CSI unit had already done it. They had Tony Perri's permission in writing to investigate his personal belongings and finances. As a courtesy, she phoned Perri to let him know she was going to make a stop over there. Perri had responded by saying he would call the building manager to give them the spare keys to access the apartment. It seemed to Kate that Perri was happy to do whatever he could to help them solve the case.

Inside the apartment Castle and Beckett stopped inside the doorway to take stock of the décor. Rick pushed the door closed and left the keys on the cabinet by the door. They initially looked about the living area both surprised by the abundance of wealth openly displayed with expensive furniture and artwork.

"The man has every gadget I want, Beckett."

She had to smile, "Yep, everything that appeals to your sense of adventure and intrigue, with the exception of the things demanding physical participation." She pointed towards the gym to their right.

"Oh yeah, that's more your thing. Tony Perri owns toys that are on my wish list."

Kate noticed Rick was barely able to contain his excitement, his hands less so. It was Kate's threatening glares that warned him to leave things alone and keep his feet grounded firmly beside her.

"He readily gives into his indulgences. More so than you," Kate commented.

"You often comment on my impulsive spending habits, but I keep within my budget and rarely exceed it. This guy has a bigger budget than mine."

"He sure does." She agreed as she wandered about the home. The gym Perri had was impressive by anyone's standards. By the time Kate entered the gym she was almost salivating at the sight of the equipment Perri had set up in his gym. She stood carefully on the subject treadmill, mindful of her street shoes. She looked about her, outside to the balcony, the frames of the windows then when she was satisfied with the immediate environment she stared across the street at the balcony Benson had fallen from yesterday morning. The massive tree had been the obvious challenge for Benson. In the summer the leaves of the tree would provide Perri's apartment with plenty of shade.

"Why didn't Benson simply shoot him out on the street?" Kate asked Rick when she heard him stop behind her. "He didn't do it simply."

"No. There was nothing simple about it. It took him a long time to do it. I don't know. I'm struggling with that question myself. It doesn't make sense to risk one's life to take another's. It was all about Perri but why was Benson so motivated?"

"Maybe it was the girl in the photo." Kate suggested.

"Maybe it was," Castle agreed.

"Perhaps we need to find her." They said in unison.

They smiled at each other as Kate stepped off the tread mill. Their little thing.

She watched Rick disappear through a doorway, then turned about to take in the entire gym Perri had. She walked across the room following Castle who was busy investigating the bedroom, "Castle. Let's see if Perri has some kinky stuff hidden away somewhere."

"Kinky? As in black leather and studs?"

"Yeah something like that. He spooked Tania and I'm thinking he's into kinky fantasies."

"Ohh… you're implying he went too far one night and she's too humiliated to talk about it?"

Kate smiled, "Mmm… or maybe she held back because you were in the room and she wouldn't share in front of you."

"Okay, then let's look." Castle led the way to the walk in robe as a starting point, "I think the kinky stuff will be hidden."

"You think so?" Kate replied as she bent over to the boxes beneath Perri's hung clothing.

"Well, we hide our stuff."

"I know that Castle. But that's because … never mind. Just search."

"We should … "

"Castle…"

"I'm looking." Castle commenced to search with Kate in silence. After shuffling and rifling through drawers, boxes and shelves they didn't find anything.

"We could just ask him," Castle suggested as they progressed to the bathroom and the linen closet.

"No. I'm not asking if he's into kinky sex that might have lead to someone wanting him dead. He would know it came from Tania."

"Alright, but there's nothing here Beckett." Castle said as he checked the high shelf of the closet. He closed the door then looked about the bathroom.

"No. I will ask the CSI guys to come and sweep the place, see if they can find something." When Kate finished with inspecting beneath the vanity, she stood up straight and wiped her hands on her jeans. She felt dirty. "It's not illegal being perverted or kinky, but it might help us get to the reason why Benson wanted him dead."

"Because Perri might be sexually perverted?"

"It could that that," Kate replied. "People get crazy."

Castle stared at Beckett, processing her comments, "You frequently tell me I'm perverted. Where does one draw the line between normal perverted like me and then someone more perverted?"

Kate laughed, "Indeed, where is the line drawn Castle? Normal perverted?"

He nodded, "As equally perverted as you are."

She rolled her eyes, "We all have our secrets."

"There must be a better reason for the man, or woman, to want Benson dead."

"I'm sure there is. I was hoping to find a hint of it here. C'mon Buddy, we need to get back."

"Okay. You know Beckett, there's not much stuff here that suggests Tony even has a girlfriend. Only one toothbrush, none of her clothing…"

"So? We were like that when we started dating."

"Yeah, but you had a toothbrush, your shampoos and stuff were kind of there from the get go."

"True," she smiled. "Now we have two apartments with both our stuff combined.

"Yes, I was going to talk to you about that."

"Are my shoes annoying you?" She pictured her mounting collection of shoes lined up along the wall in two rows on the floor of his walk in robe. As they passed through the walk in robe she noted there was only men's clothing, all of it neatly stored.

"Arrr… your shoes." He said with endearment, "You have quite a collection, and storing them is a problem I can fix." Rick replied making a mental note to call his handy man, "But no, it's not your shoes. No women's shoes in this wardrobe by the way."

"I noticed. What were you wanting to take about?"

"Your apartment."

"Now's probably not a good time to discuss this Castle," she replied as she led him from the bedroom. She glanced at him in his grey suit jacket, his white shirt, "But I guess I won't renew my lease on the apartment when it expires in about six weeks."

"Yep, not a chance you're renewing that. You have a home with me to live in."

"It's a nice apartment."

"Maybe we could keep it for my mother or Alexis. We'll talk later about that."

"I guess we've had the conversation," she concluded in satisfaction it was uncomplicated and brief.

"I guess we have then. Happy with that?"

"I am." She stopped, turned about and hooked her arm loosely around his neck as his hands instantly went to her waist. She kissed his lips. "Very happy," she whispered then let him go and continued out of the apartment.

Castle watched her leave, watching her ass walk away, a smile of content spreading over his face. He the realised he needed to follow, but called, "I guess I'll call my carpenter about shelving for your shoes." He grabbed the keys and shut the apartment door shut.

"You'd better." She stopped and looked over her shoulder at him. "Coming Castle?"

"I am." He ensured it was locked then hurried after his fiancé.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 – Chris Stone thrown from van**

Slightly before midnight, Susan Charlton stepped out of the foyer of a block of apartments to commence the short walk from her best friend's place to her own apartment across the road. The air was crisp and hit her wine infused brain cells a little too sharply. Her evening had been spent with one of her close friends lounging on the old red couch watching a marathon of their favourite show about a writer and his muse. A casual girls' night with bubbly wine and take-out meals. She closed the security door, then wiped the cat hair off her nose as she started down the concrete steps. The friend's cat had a thing for Susan. Whenever she visited the cat found a place on her to nuzzle up. She loved the cat not so much his hair loss.

As she stepped to the bottom step she almost stumbled in surprise at the unexpected and sudden screech of tires. She regained her balance fast enough to visually search for where the noise originated. A white van hurtled along the street between the parked cars in front of her. The vehicles barely made it between the parked cars. She dismissed it as a careless driver and continued on her walk home. However the noise of the van door being slid open in the quiet street caught her attention. Her gaze followed the van that at the end of the narrow street came to a messy halt, then jerked forward again. It almost stopped as a body was thrown from the side door out on to the road. The unconscious body tumbled to the road then rolled several rapid clumsy times before its progress was interrupted by the curb. The van accelerated with a roar of the engine, turned a sharp left and continued along the road the door slamming shut.

Susan, who wasn't a woman easily shocked or rattled, without a thought for her own safety, sprinted to the unconscious male. As she ran she wished she hadn't consumed so much food as it weighed heavy in her stomach. She found her phone in a pocket and as she halted at the curb side she dialled 911. Once she was connected to the operator she followed his guidance and assisted where she could.

Not quite thirty minutes later, Castle and Beckett stood on the curb side, staring down upon the body of the man who had been thrown from a vehicle.

Police and ambulance lights strobed against the brick apartments, reflected off the windows over their faces. The scene was a hub of activity with uniformed police officers and paramedics going back and forth. A small crowd of bystanders circled the police tape, most of them with their hands dug deep in their hoodie pockets.

The paramedics who had been the first to show up at the scene had called it in to dispatch that the victim was deceased. Consequently, the Homicide Squad had been contacted at the Precinct. At Gates' direction, the call had been dispatched to Beckett's cell phone. Castle and Beckett had arrived at the scene by foot within a few minutes of receiving the call.

An officer approached Beckett with a small note book in her right hand. "Detective."

"Evening Jones," Beckett greeted with a nod.

"Nice night for a run guys?" She inquired comparing the two. The detective was quiet and relaxed but her partner was breathing rapidly.

"We were playing Xbox games," Castle replied between puffs of air, "Then jogged here. Her idea." Castle's respiration was slowing down from their partial jog to the scene.

"We are only a few blocks from my apartment," Kate commented giving him a look. As usual she had fully recovered from their run and was breathing at her normal resting rate. She wore her jacket and had it zipped up to keep warm. She smiled deciding to tease Castle, and looked at Jones, "It was easy."

"I know it was for you, but I'm not built like a race horse." Rick remarked his eyes going from her face to her feet and back up to her dark eyes. He pulled off his jacket to cool down and slung it over his right shoulder smiling at the officer who had a chuckle at his humour. Rick loved it that Kate was naturally athletic but sometimes, such as tonight, he felt that he physically held her back. He wasn't built like her with long limbs and a slender body and he accepted that.

Kate narrowed her eyes at Rick in response to his comment then turned her attention to Officer Jones, "Did anyone in the crowd see something, perhaps a registration number?"

"With the exception of the woman who saw the deceased get thrown from the vehicle, nobody saw a thing."

"Typical." Kate pressed her lips together.

"Susan Charlton, who called it in, stated the deceased was tossed out of the van while it was still moving slowly and he rolled till he bumped into the curb."

"Ok. I'll have the detectives take her in to make a statement." She was already weary and now faced the fact she was going to be up for the rest of the night.

"Anything else Detective?"

"That's it, thanks Jones. We'll wait for the ME to arrive."

"Thanks Detective." She smiled then glanced at the writer, "Nice to see you again Castle."

Rick nodded at the officer, "Sure, Jones. Are you going to the Police Christmas picnic?"

"I'll be there with my partner," she replied.

Rick smiled with enthusiasm, and rubbed his hands together, "Good. I'm looking forward to kicking your ass in that race again."

"Sure Castle. Not a chance you're gonna win again," Jones said as she walked away.

Castle stepped so he stood close to Beckett who murmured, "We are so gonna win that game Castle."

"That's my girl!" He smiled at her eyes both of them sharing a moment. He then looked back at the body, rolling on the balls of his feet several times as he thought about the scene before them, "The men who did this, could have dropped this guy off first thing in the morning so we could have caught some zzzzz's," he only loud enough so Kate would hear.

"Tell me about it." She clipped her NYPD badge so it hung from the top of her zipper. "But we know that's the life of a detective Castle."

"I know. We were only about five minutes away from hitting the shower then going to bed."

"Five more minutes and someone else would have received the call."

"Now we're standing over a dead guy only a few blocks from your place." Castle gazed down upon the body. The deceased male was on his back, the bottom half his body covered by a sheet. His shirt was cut open and his chest bare from when the paramedics had worked on him. The paramedics waited by the bus and a half dozen uniformed police kept the area cordoned off. A few inquisitive neighbours had come out but they were disappearing to return to bed. "Meanwhile, everyone is waiting for the Medical Examiner on call to arrive. I trust it will be Pearlmutter."

"Probably," Kate mumbled as she stepped away.

Alone and distracted, Castle studied the surface of the body. He stepped closer. The poor guy had been beaten almost beyond recognition. His left eye was swollen shut from repeated hits. There was a knife slash over his cheek. Rick, who rested on his hands on his knees as he leaned over to get a better look, noticed his knuckles weren't injured from hitting back. Rick stopped breathing. The left index finger of the victim moved. Rick waited. Again. It moved again.

He stood up and looked about, "Kate?" Castle called once again watching the body for movement. He knew Kate would not believe him but he had to share it with her.

"Mmm?"

"I need to touch the victim. Do you have disposables?" He glanced to her. She was fiddling with her iPhone.

"No. I don't carry gloves when I'm off duty."

"I thought you would." He replied.

"You know you can't touch." She said without looking away from her phone.

"I know, but I think I have to."

"No Castle."

"I think he's still alive, Beckett."

Kate slipped the phone in a pocket and placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him from moving. She peered down at the body for the third occasion, "The paramedics declared him. That's why we're here."

"Well, maybe they are wrong. He moved, Kate. I swear to you, I saw his finger twitch."

"It's the body's process of dying." Kate replied and gave his shoulders a stroke.

"I know what happens." Rick ignored Kate's touch of reassurance and crouched down to reach to the body. He pressed two fingers over the carotid artery.

She tissed at him, "No, Castle," she whispered, "you know the ME's get pissed off if the bodies are too compromised.

This time Castle ignored Kate's huffing and puffing of objection as she circled the body with long strides. He looked up to her face filled with anticipation about whether he was actually going to feel a sign of life. He was aware he made her nervous when he did things he wasn't supposed to do. It drove her crazy, but sometimes the risk was worth it. He waited what seemed a long time for a sign the guy lying on the ground dead, was indeed alive. He was about to give up, then he felt it. A single bump slid beneath his fingers. His eyes widened, "He's alive, Kate."

"You're jerking me!?" She hissed, glancing about.

"No, seriously! He's alive." He felt a second pulse. "Again," he told her.

Kate knew Rick was dead set serious. It was all over his face, in his voice. He wasn't playing around for once. With that, she instantly turned about searching the area for the paramedics and found two of them talking to the uniforms, "Hey!" She called to get their attention, "Guys! Over here!" Once they turned to find out what the noise was about she pointed at the guy lying on the ground, "This guy is alive!"

Rick stood and stepped to Kate's side where they were well out of the way of the paramedics, "What the hell? How did they miss that?" He asked her.

"I don't know."

For a couple of seconds they observed the paramedics hastily skating about to collect their equipment. They scrambled about in a bit of a fluster.

Castle leaned in close to Kate's ear and murmured so the paramedics didn't hear, "There must be a reason they missed it."

"It happens for a lot of reasons," Kate quietly stated, "The paramedics might be weary and over worked, the body is cold perhaps rigid. Their machines don't find a heartbeat."

"You really don't know." Rick quietly remarked with a bit of a smart ass smirk appearing as he looked at her face. He knew by the vacant stare she held into the distance that he was right.

Kate bit her bottom lip holding back a smile, "I've already admitted I've got no idea why they miss it, but they do. Drop it."

"Mmmm. He's definitely cold." Rick pointed a finger at the man who was apparently decease, "And rigid."

They watched the paramedics rush over to the patient balancing their equipment in a clumsy state. They were in a bit of flap now that Castle had picked up signs of life. Had it not been so serious it was quite comical. The paramedic in charge stated to Beckett as he knelt down beside the man, "We found the man, stiff as a rod, cold, and very clearly deceased." To everyone present the patient had obviously died before he was dumped during the night.

"You sure you felt something?" Kate inquired in a murmur. "They will be so pissed at you if they were right especially since they already tested him on the cardiac monitor."

Rick's jaw tightened momentarily before he relaxed and said with confidence, "He moved,"

"Twitched." Kate corrected.

"Okay, he twitched and I felt his pulse, twice." He held his gaze at Kate expressing he was sure about it. They fell silent as the paramedics proceeded to place the cardiac monitor dots on the patient for a second time. It was protocol with any deceased patient to ensure that he or she was in assystole. Rick understood that because of the fact that they'd already completed the procedure once before they had been called to attend. If the paramedics happened to get the same result the second time the guys would definitely be pissed at him for questioning their declaration of the man's death.

Everyone waited with abated breath. Rick thought his heart was going to burst with anxiety. He glanced anxiously between the paramedics and Kate's worried face.

Then, to everyone's surprise, the monitor gave off a single beep. Kate's mouth fell open. A second beep occurred then a string of them.

Rick grinned, started to breathe once again, and reached out to Kate's shoulder he lightly squeezed. She took his hand a little excited about his discovery.

The rhythm of the guy's heart was almost completely normal. The paramedic looked at Rick and Kate, as though somehow he had made a mistake putting the ECG dots on, as obviously this patient was dead, and there could be no electrical activity anymore.

However, the monitor didn't lie. The man's heart fired its normal electrical currents, but the heart wasn't doing what it was supposed to. Beat.

"He has EMD." One of the paramedics said loud enough that Castle heard.

"What's EMD?" He asked.

"Electrical Mechanical Disassociation," the other paramedic replied. The same paramedic immediately started CPR by doing chest compressions and the other ventilated the patient.

When the intensive care paramedics arrived Castle and Beckett stepped well out of the way as the vehicle came to a halt. The fresh team sprung from the vehicle with their equipment and approached the paramedics who still worked on the man. A short discussion followed then the intensive care team took over. One of them inserted an ETD tube into the patient's trachea to breathe for him. The other paramedic inserted an intravenous cannula into the patient's jugular vein and started to administer adrenaline.

Castle watched on filled with anticipation. He prayed they paramedics could keep this guy alive, could save his life. He could barely contain his excitement when given a few minutes the patient's heart spontaneously started to beat on its own. A paramedic declared the patient had a good, strong, pulse. Within another minute the unconscious man was lifted to a gurney and covered with thermal blankets before he was loaded into the ambulance. The patient's condition remained unchanged and stable.

Once the doors were closed and the ambulance was moving forward with lights blazing and sirens going, Castle looked at Beckett with a smile of satisfaction and disbelief, "Dude … there's another learning lesson for us."

"What's that Castle?" She smiled in amusement at how pumped he was. It was going to take her forever to get him relaxed enough to go to bed and sleep. With Rick excited this late in the evening, she knew she was destined for a long night.

"Sometimes the strangest things happen in this job… and that's all there is to it."

"Mmm.. like with me ending up with you has my partner." She teased then seriously stated "And we're off the case now he's still alive. Let's go home." She started to walk in the direction of her home with Rick chasing after her. She called Ryan's phone fully aware it would be Esposito who was driving. He soon picked up the call, "Ryan, hi."

"What's happening, Beckett?"

"Go home Ryan. The guy is alive. We don't have a body."

"What? He was declared deceased half an hour ago."

"I know. Castle saw the guy move." She briefly filled him in on the story as she and Castle headed back to her apartment. They briskly walked keen to get home to go to bed as it was almost 1.30 am. "Be in the bullpen around ten guys, unless we get another call in the meantime. The way perps drop bodies nowadays, they don't have any consideration for a girl's beauty sleep."

The boys laughed. They also said goodbye and finished the call. Once the phone was put in her pocket, Kate found Rick's hand and together they walked back to the apartment.

He liked it a lot that she had reached for and held his hand all the way. It made his chest hum and he wore a smile of content. It was still there when he let go of her hand and followed her through the doorway inside her apartment. He locked and secured the door, dropped the keys in the bowl and continued into the living room.

The shower water was already running by the time he met Kate in the bathroom. She was stripping her body of clothing and glanced up to him with a smile full of naughty thoughts. She folded her track pants and left them on a pile of clothes.

"C'mon Castle. Keep up." She invited with an alluring tone.

"You will be struggling to keep up with me," he replied and whipped off his top he threw in the clothes basket.

"Yeah sure," she scoffed as she felt for the temperature of the water watching him push off his boxers. "Sexy," she whispered, "Very sexy indeed."

"What is sexy?" He inquired gazing upon his naked body before he looked at her questioningly.

She rose her left eyebrow a smile creeping over her face, "Your chest, your ass is very cheeky…. Your:" She waved a hand at his groin, "Bits."

"I know you like that part of me."

She drew him closer to her as she stepped under the steamy shower. "Hurry Castle, the water is nice."

_Ok, if you want to read more then please let me know._


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 – Eight hours later**

Kate glanced over her right shoulder when she heard the ping of the elevator. The doors opened and out wandered Castle into the corridor carrying take out coffees. He had stayed at home to sort out a few things for their upcoming vacation. She smiled as he did. Hell he was handsome. "Hey." She smiled and took the cup he offered her.

"I got your text message." Castle casually began.

She took a sip of coffee as he sat in the chair. "About the Stone case?" She noted he'd bought the coffee that morning from her favourite coffee shop. It had the best vanilla.

"Mmmm."

"We're not off the case." She placed the coffee on the desk as it was still a little too hot.

"We're not off the case?"

She creased her brow at him, because she knew he was playing with Seinfeld humour, "You heard me."

Castle sat up and leaned over the desk. "You know we're homicide detectives, well you are, and the guy is not dead, luckily for him!" He whispered as though it was secret information.

She rolled her eyes, "Thanks to you."

He sat back, "I'm sure he's happy about it."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure he is."

"So why are we still on the case Miss Homicide Detective?"

"Because the Mayor who is also your poker buddy .."

"And yours..,, remember you kicked his butt last match night."

"I do remember."

"Go on."

"Thank you. He wants the cases resolved in his city as soon as possible and so he asked us to be involved."

"I could make a call to change that."

"And wait. Some Detective who knows you have a knack for solving crimes also put in special request with Gates to have you and I involved in the cases. More particularly, me in this instance and you're not gonna be happy about who."

Castle saw his fiancé grin at him like he imagined a cat would after it caught the big mouse then her eyes narrowed. He placed his coffee on the desk and fiddled with the corner of a notebook, fanning it with his thumb, then looked up at her curious to know. "Why aren't I going to be happy about it?"

"Ummm…" She waved it off. "Never mind. You're a big boy and you know I'm with you." She sat back waiting for him to swallow the bait she'd just tossed his way. She enjoyed holding back information from Castle. It caused him to be inquisitive and funny.

"Beckett." He leaned forward again looking around to ensure no one else was listening. "Who put in that request for you?"

Kate stayed quiet, sipped her coffee and watched Castle almost writhing in agony over wanting to know who had made the request.

"Hang on a second. You said cases? There was only one guy found last night. You said plural. What's going on?"

She smiled once again confirmed that he really did listen even if it came later. "There's the guy last night and now we know a woman who was with him was also abducted. She's still missing. And there is the Benson case if you want to include him." Kate said, taking her chair at the desk. She took a sip of coffee waiting for Rick to absorb the new information. Rick was the kind of guy who would keenly expend his energy on a new type of investigation with enthusiasm and that's exactly what the Captain said to Kate when she had been given the orders to continue with the investigation. "Our team is going to be on the case because they believe homicide will be called in at some stage soon. To gain leverage on me agreeing to work on a non-murder case, Gates gave me extra detectives to assist with the investigations."

Rick took a breath and leaned toward Kate again as he quietly replied, "Is she feeling alright?"

"I believe so why?"

"She asked for me. But we also don't do bashings and hostages and there's a perfectly good squad downstairs that already do this sort of work. I've met them," he confirmed, his blue eyes wide as though trying to convince Kate he was telling the truth.

"I'm sure you have, Castle. At the police picnics."

"True, yes I have met them there, when we beat them all in the three legged race." He quirked his left eyebrow at her, recalling the day in the summer they had attended the police picnic in Central Park.

She laughed, "It was a fun day with you."

"I know." He leaned in again, "But I've met them when they have sneaked up here to steal our coffee." He fixed his chin in defiance over the fact they were sneaking up to the bullpen to steal the good coffee and he pointed his left arm at the coffee machine, "They're jealous that we have the coffee machine," he sung causing Kate to smile secretly behind her coffee cup.

"And you take great joy in intimidating them when they do."

"Yes, of course I do."

She regained control of her smile as she put the cup on the desk beside her laptop, "You have the Mayor on speed dial, Castle. Why don't you give him a call and share our woes in this division. You might mention to him that we have enough murders up here now to solve." She pointed in the general direction of the white board where she had written a list of unsolved murders that Gate's cold case teams were progressively working on. The detectives were stretched beyond capacity with what they had on the board to solve without being loaned out to other departments. "We still haven't found who is trying to murder Tony Perri and that's not supposed to be our case either. I'm sure we'll have another body drop sooner or later."

"You know what Beckett, maybe I will phone him. He owes me a favour and we have enough to do without being loaned out to mediocre departments that can't solve their own crimes." He muttered as pulled out his phone having completely forgotten about finding out who had asked for them. "I also need to have you clear of cases so we get away next week for our vacation at your Dad's lake house. I would really like to go skiing."

Kate smirked at his remarks. "We will get to the lake. I can't wait either, especially to see you naked in the new spa." She whispered with a cheeky smile.

Rick paused what he was doing to glance up at Kate. Yep she wore that seductive expression he really enjoyed drowning in. He sucked in his breath, pressed his lips and narrowed his eyes in appreciation of the look she had for him. "Nice try Beckett." He started to scroll casually through the names in his contacts list. "Have you called your father to make sure the renovations will be finished before we go there? If not I can make other arrangements."

"Other arrangements? I thought we decided on skiing?"

"Maybe Europe."

"You would take me Europe?"

"In a second. You and I in Paris together?" He smiled then laughed devilishly.

"Mmm." She sat back staring at him her fingers unconsciously finding her lips they traced. "For lovers only," she murmured with a very sexy tone of voice that caused him to stop what he was doing to look at her face.

"That was hot," he sighed thinking about her comment and the idea she had planted in his mind. "I still have to take you to Spain to find that field full of poppies." He was well aware of how important that was to her. He saw her smile then went back to his phone. "Spain is near France I've heard."

She came back into the moment wondering what he was doing with his phone, "What are you doing Castle?"

"Planning our future."

"With your phone?"

"Oh!" He glanced at her then smiled. "I'm looking for the mayor's cell phone number." He was toying with Kate as he really didn't intend on making a call to the mayor to pull them off the case. As he expected she reacted rapidly. Kate snatched the phone from his hand and placed it on the desk once she saw it wasn't dialling. It was out of his reach.

He rested his chin on his hand, elbow to the desk and stared at her in amusement, "Or maybe we should work on these cases," Rick suggested waving his right arm at the murder board. He glanced between Kate and his cell phone. He held out his hand for the return of his phone.

"We are working on these cases. Come on Castle, we have to meet with the SVU guys at the hospital to interview the guy. He woke up. Then I will call a team meeting when we get back to establish where everyone is and who is going to work on what case, now we have two non-murder cases to solve." She handed back his phone, stood and grabbed her jacket. Without a word said, Castle rose from his chair, took her jacket and held it open for her to shrug herself into it. She thanked him with a glance over her shoulder then the two of them left for the elevator.

Captain Gates gazed after them as they were swallowed up by the elevator. She saw them turn so they faced each other. As much as she tolerated the writer being in the Precinct she also understood her top detective needed him as a partner. On a personal level she also understood how much they needed each other and nobody else. Together they were brilliant. So Gates breathed in and continued to her office, satisfied her teams were being lead by the best people she had.

"Detective Kate Beckett. It's been a long time since we met in the hallways of the Twelfth Precinct. How have you been?"

"I've been very well, Detective Thomas Demming." She stopped an adequate and professional distance from Tom Demming, a guy she had kind of dated for awhile. She gazed up to his face giving him a genuine smile. It was good to see him. "How are you? You look very well." She couldn't stop herself from casting a fond eye over his face, then the rest of his tall, lean body. She had really liked him as a boyfriend and still did as a friend. She sometimes briefly regretted not going away with him that long weekend but that was way back now.

"I'm very well and you look great." Demming was unable to say any less as he stepped to Kate and pressed his cheek to her, a hand softly falling on her shoulder. She looked the best he'd ever seen her. He also picked up a hit of the expensive perfume she wore but he kept it to himself. She smelt delicious. It had been a long time since they had crossed paths. He had heard rumours a long time ago that she was with Castle and had been for some time. It had been one of the best kept secrets within the Precinct for months until they officially came out and had since announced their engagement. Demming could easily see that Kate being with Rick made her happy and he was pleased for both of them. He put out his hand as Castle reached out to shake hands, giving him a big smile, "Castle, writer boy, you still following Beckett about like a loyal Labrador?"

Castle smiled, "Someone has to keep Detective Beckett in line. How you been, Buddy?"

"Great. You're looking very fit. Beckett's been keeping you in line I think."

Rick chuckled at that theory and glanced at Kate who was simply radiant with beauty this morning. "So this is who put in the request for us?" He asked Kate.

"It is." Kate replied then spoke to Demming, "I saw your name on the formal request. But what brings you to our gathering today? We're meant to be meeting the SVU detectives." Kate inquired as they migrated to the side of the foyer at the hospital so people could pass them easily.

"It was me who put in the special request for the homicide squad to join the investigation after we had an initial discussion with the guy who was brought in here this morning. I started in the SVU team a week or so ago. No one really knows yet. By the way, Castle, great call on the guy. He wants to meet you personally and shake your hand."

"Mmmm." Kate murmured.

Rick grinned, "I would like to meet him too!"

A woman approached the group who immediately caught Rick's attention. She was in a black suit, white blouse, comparable business attire to what Kate usually wore. She was very tall, slender and had white blond hair to her shoulder blades. She smiled at Rick and clearly checked him out as she approached. She had the biggest, brightest blue eyes and a dazzling smile.

Kate saw the woman, noted how stunning she was, and saw how Castle and Demming responded to her presence. Most of all, Kate noticed how the woman looked at Castle. Kate's jaw clenched as the jealousy within her catapulted to peak levels almost out of her control.

"Beckett, Castle, this is my new partner Detective Rebekah Taylor. She recently transferred from Raleigh, North Carolina."

Castle held out his hand to meet the breathtakingly beautiful detective, "Ri…" His voice squeaked. Kate tissed. He cleared his throat, "Hi, I'm Rick Castle, and this is my partner, Detective Kate Beckett," he used enough affection in his tone of voice when he said Kate's name to tell her to knock it off with the jealous behaviour. She was so predictable when it came to him being close to other women.

"Rick Castle." The blond woman repeated, "Nice to meet you, Mr Castle." Her southern accent, carried on a soft smooth voice to his ears was comparable to his tongue tasting delicious food.

Demming immediately raised a hand to loosen his tie a little, a motion that Castle and Beckett noticed and acknowledged with a glance to each other. Either Demming wanted to or had just started to sleep with Detective Taylor. Rick saw the blush on Demming's neck. Castle thought she was gorgeous, however was more than savvy enough in Kate's presence to be extremely mindful of his body language especially when he happened to regularly interact with attractive women. He'd had plenty of practice being around Kate for years so he did it with ease. Castle stepped back to Kate's side where he was happy to be. The woman, in her late twenties was extremely attractive but in Rick's opinion she didn't even shave close to being as beautiful as the woman he spent most of his time with. He sensed Kate relaxed quite quickly. If Rebekah played up to him Kate would immediately get a little cranky and quite prickly and later on she would direct that crankiness at him.

Kate shook the woman's hand, "Hi, nice to meet you. Welcome to New York." It was to the point.

"Why, thank you Detective."

Demming cleared his throat, "We should get up stairs and speak to this guy."

"Let's go." Kate agreed wondering whether Demming was single nowadays. There was no way in this world she would let a boyfriend have a work partner, a woman as stunning as Rebekah. She also couldn't believe how easily distracted the men were by the presence of a young exceptionally beautiful woman. Rebekah walked ahead of the group. She was a little taller than Kate with legs equally as long, and Kate noted that both men stared at Rebekah's ass in her figure hugging black work pants.

The group proceeded to the elevators to interview Christopher Stone now that he was conscious and well enough to give a statement and answer some questions.

The guy obviously wasn't feeling very well and was struggling to sit up. If it weren't for the support of the abundance of pillows he rested against, a neck brace and a couple of recently swallowed prescription grade painkillers, Rick didn't think the guy would be conscious, leave alone sitting without being in agony.

Every effort was made by Stone to provide the detectives with the information they sought. Fortunately for the detectives, he was keen to tell his story about the abduction to help them find the second victim that they hardly needed to prompt him to answer their questions. Because of his oesophagus being injured he regularly took sips of water from a white plastic disposable cup that Rick topped up each time it became depleted. Castle, as always, listened with intense interest to learn as much as possible about the man's experience during the abduction.

"Chris, can you tell us where you were the night you were abducted?" Kate inquired, having taken the lead on the questioning. She understood from Demming it was one of the reasons he wanted her on the case, because she did ask the right questions.

The blond guy stared at Kate a few seconds assessing here. He took a breath, "I was at a bar. It was late, after work and I went there with work colleagues. One of the guys was leaving the job." He took a drink, wet his mouth and swallowed, "We had a round of drinks to see him off."

"What happened after that?" Kate asked.

"I met a woman there. We talked and after a few hours we left the bar to go get a coffee, find a quieter place to talk. I was totally into her."

"Are you able to give me the woman's name?"

"Arrr…Alison. Alison Atkin." He smiled back at Kate. "She was really cute. Kind of like you."

Kate glanced to Castle, "How like me?"

"Tall, brunette, attractive, your colour eyes."

"Okay." Kate murmured feeling a little uneasy, "So after you met Alison, what happened?"

"We were on our way to the café, but we woke up some time later in a room. We were both tied up." He swallowed nervously.

"In a room? A bedroom, hotel?" Castle asked inquisitive as to what had taken place.

Chris looked at Castle and replied, "Arr…. A bedroom, in a rundown house.

"Were there windows?"

Stone nodded once. "There were, but it was dark."

Beckett glanced to Demming the Castle, who saw a moment and decided to ask, "How high was the ceiling?"

"Ummm… maybe ten or eleven foot."

"What could you hear?" Castle leaned forward with interest.

"Just footsteps in the hallway, sometimes voices talking another language."

"An old house?"

"Yes."

"Was it damp in the house?"

"Yeah. She was cold all the time."

"Were there city noises?"

"Yes. We were in the city."

Kate asked, "What do you remember in the room?"

Stone stared at Beckett for several long seconds, then looked down, "That it got very ugly, very violent, very fast." He closed his eyes, "Umm… they eventually separated us. I woke up here."

Kate and Rick gazed at each other momentarily, both understanding they needed to find out more about what went on in the room, but they knew Chris Stone wasn't ready to revisit it just yet. Kate asked, "What night did you meet Alison?"

"It was the Friday night. I saw her at the bar, in a bright red dress at about seven forty six. She took my breath away. I said hello to her and spent the rest of the evening with her. She had the cutest accent."

"Accent? From where?" Rick asked.

"Ummm… London. She said she was from London."

Kate tapped that out in a text to Ryan then pocketed her phone, "What time did you leave the bar to go for the coffee?"

"Before midnight. She said she knew this great place to eat and relax that a friend of hers worked at so we decided we would take a taxi there."

"Did you get in a taxi?"

"No. I don't think so. I remember leaving the night club."

"You woke up in the room. What time do you think that was?"

"Maybe an hour or so after we left the club. It was still dark."

"And you were dropped on the street last night."

"I guess. My memories of the last part are quite vague."

"Can you remember the last time you saw Alison?"

"Yeah." He swallowed. "At a guess, it would have been Monday morning. I heard them say she was in the van and on her way to them."

"To them?"

"Them."

"Can you tell us how many people were involved in your abduction?" Demming inquired.

"Two people. A man and a woman."

"A woman?" Rebekah glanced between officers all a good ten years her senior. She was surprised by the fact there was a woman involved but none of the others were.

"Yes Ma'am, a woman. She was more violent than the man was." He rubbed his forehead with weariness then turned his gaze to Beckett who seemed to be the leader of the group. "There were men at the house too."

"Would you be able to describe them for a sketch artist?"

He nodded, "I think so, but I've gotta rest Detective Beckett. Can we finish this another time? Come back later today or in the morning?"

Kate thought about his request and picked up the silent communications from Demming and Castle to perhaps have one more crack at getting something out of Stone, so she pressed him a little more, "Chris, Alison is still missing. I know you didn't know her very well, but is there anything you can tell us that might help us locate her? Every minute counts for her."

Stone breathed deeply, "Based on what I saw and heard, I think she was taken for human trafficking, Detective. This may sound bizarre but who ever took us, knew we had just met. The people who took us were sick, but they were working for someone else. They were waiting for a call all the time. And they had done this before."

Castle took a deep breath and placed a hand on the guy's shoulder. "You rest Chris. Thank you."

"Yes, thank you. If you think of anything Chris, please contact us." Kate handed over a business card to Demming who placed it on the bedside trolley by the phone. "We'll be in touch when you're stronger to talk."

"Thank you."

The group left the victim's private room feeling somewhat deflated by Stone's experience. They walked between the two uniforms that guarded the doorway. The group didn't discuss anything until they were in the elevator alone.

Demming started to speak after he took a deep breath. His eyes caught Kate's gaze, "He's not telling us everything."

"I agree." Kate replied as she pulled out her phone and began to tap out a text to Ryan, "He went through hell in the house before they dumped him and he can't talk about it yet. We need to have someone talk with him one on one. Perhaps four of us were too much."

"I agree." Demming replied.

Everyone was silent for several seconds then Castle asked the group, "Why did they dump him so soon after abducting him, if this is about human trafficking?"

"I don't know Castle, but something weird is going on here," Kate replied watching the numbers on the panel light up as the elevator descended.

"Weird alright," Rick also stared up at the numbers on the elevator watching it go slowly downwards.

"He raped the woman," Rebekah stated straight up. Everyone looked at her in what appeared to be astonishment. She had barely said a sentence during the interview so none of them had expected her to make such a blunt statement. She sensed their surprise then squinted a little and corrected her statement, "He was forced to abuse and rape her."

Taking the young detective seriously, Castle turned a little to face the blond. He was curious to understand what had brought her to that conclusion, "What makes you think that Detective Taylor?"

Rebekah's bright blue eyes scanned Rick's face perhaps for reassurance he wasn't mocking her. Seemingly satisfied he was being genuine, she confidently replied, "He was filled with guilt and remorse."

"I agree. He certainly was. What else did you notice?"

"He didn't look at me once and although he said Detective Beckett looked like the missing woman he was filled with guilt whenever he looked at her." Taylor glanced at Beckett, "He acted like someone who had done things he was forced into. He really liked her. He wanted to date her but it's been ruined. He was not able to protect her. He was under duress from whoever abducted them and was forced to do despicable acts against Alison Atkin that he can't admit even to himself."

Rick glanced to Kate who held a serious expression, and he silently communicated to her that he agreed with the younger Detective's summary of the situation. Demming was new to the major crimes squad and Kate was a homicide detective. They both had exposure to sex crimes but neither of them would claim they were experts in that field. Although Rick, as a crime writer, had read many research papers, newspaper articles and books on the subject, he remained modest about the extent of what he'd learned over the years. It certainly didn't make him an expert but he was willing to share his knowledge of crimes and vicious acts only with people he knew well and trusted. He wasn't comfortable to share too much information about sexual crimes. He needed the knowledge as part of his career choice but that didn't mean he had to share it and creep people out. Not even Kate knew how many sinister articles and materials he had read. She didn't know half the places he'd seen and experienced firsthand in his life time and didn't intend to share it.

He blinked and calmly said, "I agree with you Detective. Stone was holding back on us. If indeed, Alison Atkin was taken for human trafficking, then there wasn't a need for Mr Stone to be detained any longer. It's possible the abductors have their own agenda besides human trafficking."

The elevator doors opened and everyone stepped out to the ground floor. Demming was beside Beckett and quietly asked her, "Does it freak you out that he can think like a criminal? Like you sleep beside him and all."

Kate glanced to Demming with that look she was so good at and he caught it.

"Sorry," he murmured.

Kate continued to walk, "He writes crime novels for a living. He has the ability to think like a criminal."

"Yeah but it's freaky."

"So is she, and you're sleeping with her," Kate retaliated.

"Touche, Detective," Demming smiled at Kate accepting she had just put him back in his place. He checked over his shoulder to see that Castle and Taylor were actively engaged in conversation. He turned his attention back to Beckett.

"I still regret that you didn't come away with me that weekend. It could have been great."

Kate smiled keeping her lips closed but her eyes told him she accepted what he said without reading between the lines. She understood he had moved on and was happy for her regardless of how things had eventuated. Seconds later, after she had glanced over her shoulder to the man who had put a ring on her finger, to the guy she loved, she looked back at Demming and said in sureness, "I did the right thing. I didn't know why at the time but I do now."

Demming nodded in understanding. He knew that Kate was very happy in her relationship with Castle. It showed all over her she was content. "I'll come back later to talk to Stone. I will give Detective Taylor the opportunity to exhibit how much she listened in class at college."

"I think she will do very well." Kate replied. "Update us once you've spoken to him." They came to a stop at the entrance to the hospital and waited for the other two to catch up. Castle and Taylor were engaged in quite an animated discussion about North Carolina. Once they caught up to Demming and Beckett their conversation died. The four stared silently at each other shifting, on their feet.

"Well, I guess we'll be in contact." Beckett said to Demming.

"Yeah, sure." Demming glanced to everyone finishing with his gaze on Kate. "It was good to see you. If we learn anything we'll give you a call."

Kate nodded. "Same here." She glanced to Rick who was giving her a look.

Everyone said goodbye then Beckett and Castle headed to the car.

Once they were out of ear shot Rick excitedly started a conversation, "Did Detective Demming score the ultimate partner or what? She has black belts in three styles of karate, she does archery, she rides horses competitively…she runs triathlons, intelligent…."

"Castle!" Kate abruptly stopped in the middle of the car park and stepped in front of Castle. She put a pointed finger to his chest stopping him mid-stride.

"What?" He almost squawked.

"Castle," she hissed getting into his face. She glanced about to ensure Demming wouldn't hear or see them. She poked him stepping into his space.

"Oww!" Castle creased his brow in confusion. He gently took hold of her entire hand and lowered it from his chest as he studied her expression.

She mimicked, "She's intelligent, rides horses, does archery….."

"What?! She's like the blond you!" He furrowed his brow now frustrated with her. "Oh, please! Don't tell me you're jealous of her?" He saw her expression change which made him chuckle. "Don't play the jealous card now." He pleaded, biting into his bottom lip mainly because he thought she was so cute when she was jealous. He tried hard to suppress his laughter.

"I saw how you looked at her." Kate tightened her chin with frustration because she knew how ridiculous she was behaving.

"You're kidding me. She is a stunning woman, so of course I'm going to look at her. I'm a guy and I have a pulse. I saw how you looked at Demming, Honey so don't play this game."

Kate tissed. "The jealously card."

"That's it. Anyway, you and everyone else have seen how I look at you too." He smiled to break the escalating tension and leaned in closer to her ear knowing exactly what would break the Beckett iceberg to bits, "Like the way I looked at you last night before I turned your body into a shaking mess."

She smiled uncontrollably, "Castle," she purred as her cheeks blushed and her eyes shot down to his chest no longer able to sustain her jealous glare. She understood perfectly what Rick was referring to.

Her reaction now caused Rick to laugh and he put his hand to the side of her neck and pushed back strands of her hair, "I kind of love it that you still get jealous of other women." He pressed his lips to her forehead, laughing at her.

"It won't ever stop," she confessed.

"Don't want it to. It reminds me you still want me during those times you won't admit it." He dropped his hand.

"Let's go Castle." She turned and continued over the car park to the police car, "We'll head back to the Precinct, update our news with the boys and see what they've found in the meantime."

Castle and Beckett barely had time to take off their jackets when Beckett's phone rang. She pulled it from her pocket.

"It's Ryan." She swiped the screen and put it to speaker. "Hi Ryan, What you got?"

"During your absence I completed the background and financial checks on Christopher Stone."

"Ryan." Rick greeted as he took the phone from Beckett. "He's clean right?"

"Nothing popped at all." Ryan confirmed, "Not event a vehicular fine." He stood in front of their murder board and read from his list of jotted points that summarised the guy and reflected he was a model citizen. "He has never been fined for so much as J walking. I also ran a background check on Interpol on Alison Atkin after you texted me she's a UK citizen, Beckett. She's been living in the city on a two year working visa. She's been residing in the USA for four months. She lives with a bunch of English girls in Soho. A few of the girls are on their way into the Precinct to talk to us."

"Okay. Well I guess we'll chat to them then wrap it for the day." Kate said glancing at Rick. "We'll see you at the Precinct. We're just leaving the hospital."

Rick hung up as Beckett started the car.

That evening Castle and Beckett sat on stools by the kitchen counter with a glass of wine each and a tray of cheese, fruit and crackers. Kate picked at the olives using her fingers as Rick sliced another chunk of brie cheese he then rested on a cracker. As they ate they listened. Kate had accepted a late night call from Detective Taylor who had been back to question Chris Stone earlier in the evening.

"Surprisingly, Stone opened up to me and provided quite a bit more information than he had been willing to pass on this morning." Taylor commented, "He was more composed and ready to talk than he had been when we were there."

Kate had a notebook in front of her but she didn't write. Instead she accepted the cracker Castle had prepared for her and attempted to take a quiet bite of it. Rick watched on, completely fascinated by her and sniggered when he heard the loud crunch of the water cracker. It seemed that Taylor didn't hear them as she continued to speak uninterrupted her southern accent stronger on the phone.

"Stone said he was forced to engage in sexual acts with Alison Atkin. He said that a man and woman who had held them captive had been violent towards him but hadn't really hurt the woman. From what he relayed to me, Alison wasn't physically struck and the captors had been incredibly conscious not to have her physically harmed, that is other than raping her."

Kate ceased to eat, and put her cracker on the side of the tray. She stared at Rick who was chewing. She was unable to comprehend what was going on with the abduction and dumping. It firstly wasn't her profession to be chasing missing persons or to be investigating sexual crimes.

"So it was all done against his will?" Castle asked after swallowing.

"That's correct Castle. It seems by what Stone said that the guy was kinky got off on the fact that Stone and Atkin were complete strangers. If he didn't do what they wanted him to do, they beat him."

"Odd," Rick grunted, "but there are a lot of sick people out there."

"I agree," Taylor replied. They heard her take a deep breath. "I'm not going to date until we capture the thugs doing this." She added.

"Completely understand." Castle spiked another piece of cheese and brought it to his mouth. He ate.

"Ok Taylor. Enjoy the rest of the evening. Thanks for the update." Kate said.

"No worries Detective Beckett. We'll speak tomorrow no doubt."

"Good night." Castle said.

After they hung up from the call, Rick rubbed his face, blinked a few times in thought and said, "I think this case really might be about human trafficking, Beckett. I don't get why the men are involved just yet, but the women are definitely being used as sex slaves or being traded."

"Why do you think it's about sex slaves?" Kate asked popping another olive in her mouth.

"Because we have a missing woman and no idea about where she is. Where Atkin will end up is anyone's guess. She could be in Europe by now."

"Mmmm. I know, but we have to keep searching for her and Gates has kept us on the case." Kate said as she sliced another piece of brie cheese.

"We'll get back onto it in the morning. It might be a good idea to speak to the cops that work on missing people. Something might pop and Atkin may not be the only woman missing. We're working blind here. Meanwhile have you called your Dad about the lake house?"

"Oh yeah, I need to do that." She stepped to the floor, leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. "I'm going to go wash off the make-up. I'll call him while I'm doing that." She said as picked up her phone and walked away.

"I'll open another bottle of the wine you like."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 **

Ryan stood before his colleagues who were seated on chairs and desks circling the murder boards. For the Irish detective, it was reminiscent of being back in the classroom under the scrutiny of Catholic nuns. Feeling a mild form of anxiety bubble to the surface he fidgeted a little on his feet and adjusted his tie. He welcomed the nervous hum in his chest because he knew he was only sharing information he had found with his team members. It was good information that would help progress the investigation.

He decided to read through his notes again before commencing the briefing. His bright blue eyes scanned the beige pages of the pocket sized notebook where he'd scribbled down a few points earlier on. He recalled the impromptu moment Castle had given him the note book. On the morning he had been gifted the note book, Castle had mentioned when Ryan had complimented him on his note pad. Ryan liked the note pad and even today, it warmed him that Castle had acknowledged his comment. It had a find leather jacket and fitted perfectly into his shirt pockets.

Ryan cleared his throat then commenced to verbally deliver the latest news completely unaware he had just provided approximately two minutes of pure amusement to his audience. Beckett glanced at Castle sharing a look. They loved Ryan's idiosyncrasies.

"Well, guys, last night Esposito and I ran a report of missing persons and we got in touch with a couple of officers down in the missing persons squad. They gave us a list of people who have been reported missing over approximately the past two years, give or take six months. The list, needless to say, is rather extensive. I'll get back to that in a second." He flipped the page on the notebook and read his writing before he continued now into the flow of sharing information. "In the meantime, I got a hold of the street CCTV video of where Stone said he was on the night, and scrubbed that. Chris Stone was honest with his account of events. He and Alison didn't make it to the coffee shop. They got snatched evidently where CCTV is out of range." He looked up from his notebook he closed with a snap. "Something popped when we ran the missing persons list."

"Do go on." Castle encouraged.

"You guys are never gonna believe this one." Ryan said and glanced to Demming. "You want to take over Demming or are you happy for me to continue?"

"You've got it Ryan."

Ryan gave a smile then continued, "Ok, we need a bigger murder board, Beckett," he said as he picked up a new NYPD file.

"Don't you mean missing persons board?" Kate asked sarcastically.

"Yeah kind of because this is how it is."

"How what is?" Becket asked impatiently.

"Well, the searches we did late last night produced something we didn't really want to find," Ryan said to an audience of four who all leaned forward curious to hear more. He flipped opened the file and grabbed hold of some 8 x 10 inch photos. "We have discovered a number of missing women with similar abduction scenarios to the Chris Stone and Alison Atkin case."

One by one Ryan clipped up the photos of the images of four women to the white board in a horizontal line. The women were approximately the same age with the comparable complexions and appearances. There were variations of course, but all were attractive, long haired brunettes with dark eyes.

"They're so alike." Kate murmured.

"Too right they are." Castle replied sitting up in his chair. "And this is over about two years?"

"That's right," Demming replied, "Well that's what we inputted as our search criteria."

"How is it that this has gone unnoticed all this time?" Castle inquired.

"Just not enough missing until now. Our search criteria flagged these additional women, flagged a few others that we ultimately dismissed as runaways." Demming replied.

"And they fall under different Precincts." Ryan added.

"What about the men, did they have men with them?" Castle inquired leaning forward with interest.

"They did, and thanks for asking," Ryan replied as he began to hang the pictures of the men beneath each picture of the women, "With the exception of this woman." He tapped a knuckle on the picture to the furthest left.

Demming also pointed to the first woman. "She comes from Queens, lives alone. Her employer reported her missing about eight months ago. All her bank accounts have been frozen since the day before she was reported missing and no one has reported any sightings of her."

"Where was the last place she was seen?" Kate inquired.

"She went out with friends, met a guy and she split from her group."

Hearing that, Rick gazed at Kate thinking about her on Sunday evening. She had been intoxicated, her guard had been down and she had been far more receptive of men than she would normally be. Although they hadn't been drinking to get drunk, at sometime in the afternoon Castle had slowed down his drinking. Had Kate not been under his care that evening she might have been at risk of being on that missing board. If anything ever happened to her he would be devastated. On Sunday, seeing she was intending to have a good time, he had steadied his drinking and allowed her to have fun without being harassed. He and his mates had kept their girls safe.

Her voice interrupted Castle's thoughts, "And no one has seen her since?" Kate asked.

"Nobody," Ryan confirmed.

"They let her go alone with a stranger?" Castle inquired quite surprised.

"Women do that all the time," Kate replied glancing at Castle.

"I would never let a woman in my company leave with a stranger."

"We're not all like you Castle," Esposito replied. "We can't control women."

"No, we can't, but we can take care of them. Ensure they make it home safely." He persisted.

"Castle," Kate murmured in a tone that told him she understood but he had to let it go. "So do you have the police files for these missing women?"

"We've got the police files, yes." Demming replied.

"Do we include this woman in this case? She is the odd one out."

"I think we should Beckett," Ryan replied.

"Same here," Demming added. "She might be the first one he took."

"Fine," Kate replied. A uniformed officer approached the group and stretched out to Kate handing her a few phone messages. Kate mouthed thanks and flicked through the messages before dismissing them by dropping them on her desk.

Castle spotted the agitation that briefly crossed Kate's face so he reached out to grab the messages curious to see what was written on them. Kate slapped her hand over them so he couldn't read them. She followed it up with a look that clearly told him to mind his own business.

Beckett turned her attention back to the first woman, then Demming, "Ok Demming, how much longer do you want my team on the case? We usually work with bodies, not missing women," Kate cast her eyes over the missing women and their respective partners. Because the women all looked remarkably alike, it was creeping Kate out enough to run a shiver through her spine. Nothing in this case made sense but she felt it deep inside her gut that they would find something sinister going on.

"I guess you're on the case until Gates tells us otherwise."

Beckett bit her lip then took a deep breath, "I guess so. So what do you want us to do?"

"We'll do some follow up investigations of these other women, speak to the partners of them and see if we can't pick up extra information that may help us with Alison Atkin," Demming replied.

"Okay. Ryan, Esposito, Castle and I will go through the other files and see if we can't find a link or something that connects them together. That's a starting point."

"Okay. Taylor and I will tap into the Federal files and Interpol and see if anything pops. These missing women are all from the New York City and Jersey areas but we don't know whether there are similar cases further afield."

"Good start." Kate replied. Her eyes lifted once again to picture of the missing woman Alison Atkin. Her parents were in the air flying from London to NYC in the hope they would be there when their only daughter was found hopefully safe and well. She glanced to the time, aware they would be arriving soon, "Ryan, would you arrange for a unit to collect Mr and Mrs Atkin from the airport please? Their flight is scheduled to land in a couple of hours. I wrote the flight number and arrival time on my notebook."

"Sure Beckett."

"We also need to investigate Billy Benson, see if we can't find out more about him. We need to cut Tony Perri free soon." Beckett said to the group rubbing her thumb over her forehead.

Esposito spoke up, "We've got nothing on him Beckett. Benson served his time. Was working until a couple of months ago. It's weird."

"What's weirder is the fact Perri wants to date me." Kate replied glancing to the messages. "The sooner we resolve it the sooner he is free to move on with his life."

"He's trying to date you?" Esposito asked in surprise glancing at Castle.

"Mmmm." Kate replied lifting up the messages. Rick instantly snatched them out of her hand before Kate had a chance to stop him. With Esposito and Ryan gazing over his shoulder Rick read the messages.

"Seriously, you are not dating this guy Kate." Rick declared.

"Like I would Castle. Throw them out when you're finished." She stood up, having had enough of his caper. "Alright. Thanks guys, let's get to it."

The group instantly dispersed but Castle remained seated watching Beckett who scanned the board with Billy Benson's photo at the top middle position.

"Five messages, Kate." He calmly stated. "Isn't that a little obsessive?"

Beckett turned about, reached out and took the messages from his hand. She threw them in the waste paper basket without saying a word.

"I'm not playing jealous Kate. I'm just saying, five messages in a morning?"

"Yes, Castle, it's a little obsessive." She agreed, "What's your point?"

"Should we talk to him again?" Rick inquired. "Maybe we're looking at Benson the wrong way. What if Perri had done something that had provoked Benson, motivated Benson to murder him?"

Kate gave him a look that told him not to be so ridiculous as she returned to her desk chair. "You saw how predictable his life is Castle. He's creepy, but we can't use that to say it motivated Benson to murder him." She took a second or two to scan the calendar on her computer for the duration of the next month. They would be on annual leave for two weeks. They would return in time to prepare for court at the end of the month.

"And now he wants to take you out."

"He will get the hint with my silence." She replied glancing at her boyfriend. She noticed he was concerned more than jealous but she couldn't refrain herself from saying, "Don't worry Castle, I'm with you."

"You're missing my point."

"I think I'm not. You are exploring the possibility he has done something to motivate Benson to try to murder him, but he failed. That Perri knows why his life was threatened."

"Exactly."

"That's why I told the details we have on him to listen out for any hints."

"That's why I love you, Kate Beckett." He said with a proud smile.

"Mmm." She smiled but didn't look at him. She leaned forward reading the notes beneath the photos of Chris Stone and Alison Atkin. The situation with the missing woman caused Kate's stomach to knot. There was something sinister going on. With the information Taylor had got the evening before and with what the guys had discovered, there was something big going on. She stood from her chair, her mind taking her to a different zone as she studied the evidence they had.

Castle and Beckett sat alone at the desk late into the evening. They stared quietly at the photographs of the dead women and the writing that now surrounded those pictures. The only noise was the infrequent ting of the elevator bell and Kate nibbling at a broken nail she wouldn't leave alone regardless of Castle's silent glares. They had eaten a Thai dinner from take-out containers a local restaurant had delivered a couple of hours earlier. Castle had indicated minutes before it was time to think about going home for the night but Kate was stalling their departure because something was bothering her with the photographs. Random women had been picked with random men. That was the only constant apart from the fact they were all brunettes, tall and slender.

"Where were they all last seen?" Rick asked and saw Kate lazily shrug her shoulders.

"We didn't get far enough through the files to establish it." She replied quietly staring at her fiancé admiring the colour of his blue shirt that brought out his blue eyes. "Speaking to the families of the women took a long time. It's different searching for missing people. My mind thinks of them as deceased but the friends and family still think of them as alive."

"But you still care for them Kate," Rick gave her a little smile and saw the shape of her lips alter in response, "So we don't know where they were or who they were with when they disappeared."

"No, but it's enough for tonight Babe. Tomorrow morning we will continue going through the files and contacting their friends. We will find out where they all frequented and see if something pops." She tapped a pen on her desk. "You're right. It's time to give it a rest for the day. The parents of Alison Atkin are anxious."

"Only daughter. I would be too if it were Alexis."

"It's hard when they don't have the answers, don't know whether she's dead or alive. With homicide, its certain." She sighed. "We go home?"

Castle stood up, "Good idea. We have a white board that is virtually blank with the exception of the pictures of four missing women, four released men and a time frame that indicates their abductions occurred over a period of about five months. Friends will know where they liked to go."

"Friends always do." Kate agreed as she locked her computer. She grabbed her bag and stood up. Rick had her coat already and held it open for her to slip into.

"We know knew more about one woman because Chris Stone had been with her when she was taken. We need to assume if it's the same person behind it that the others were taken the same way."

Kate processed that. Stone was still in hospital but was likely to be released in the morning. There was a general belief amongst the NYPD that the woman who had been abducted with Stone was dead or out of the country.

"There's been an alert released with the ports, airports and boarders. We've done that already right?"

"Ryan organised it when we got back from the hospital." Castle replied.

"He did." She affirmed, "So if Atkin is still alive, there is a high chance she was in the States."

"She's still alive Kate, she has to be."

"I know."

Beckett, her team and Demming's crowd all maintained the thought process that she was still held hostage and alive. Until proof of death, they would continue to hunt for her. The SVU team had been circling all the human trafficking gangs they were aware of but nothing was popping up.

Castle stepped up to Beckett and because they were alone at the Precinct, he put his hands to her upper arms and moved in closer breathing in her scent. He quietly said, "Katie, let's take a break from it. I have a nice bottle of red on the kitchen top." He pressed his lips to her forehead then added, "Hopefully my mother hasn't found it."

Kate snorted, "What's the chances of the wine still being there? We know how much your mother loves wine."

"Alcohol Sweetheart, my mother's not fussy "

"True," Kate laughed.

"Let's go home," Castle said as he took her laptop bag from her shoulder to carry it for her, "Hopefully she's retired to bed by the time we get there and I can spend some time holding you on the couch."

She smiled, "That would be nice Castle."

"I know. Hurry up," he encouraged as he walked ahead of her jiggling his keys in the air.

She quickly caught up.

"This time on Friday, Beckett, you will officially be on vacation and we will be on our way to the Hamptons."

She smiled, "Yeah, only tomorrow Castle! I can't wait and hopefully Demming and Taylor will be able to take it over and we can take leave." She replied.

"We will be able to shut our minds down and simply concentrate on each other." He replied.

The following afternoon, wearing tight black denim jeans and high heeled black boots, Beckett calmly paced the length of the two murder boards. Her demeanour carried a sense of satisfaction that her team was progressing with their unusual case. The white boards, usually dressed up with murder evidence, were now cluttered with timelines, pictures and writing that relating to missing persons. As she passed the final board, the detective glanced at the photo of Billy Benson, her stomach turning a knot because they hadn't progressed much further with why he had tried to assassinate Tony Perri. The man was held under voluntary safe custody in his own apartment but he was growing increasingly impatient by the hour. On the upside, Perri had given up asking Beckett out on a date. His last effort to see her had come in the form of asking Gates to have Beckett personally protect him, but Gates had fortunately seen through that and had hastily resisted his suggestion. Perri was now chomping at the bit to be released back to his usual life. He no longer cared about his welfare as he wanted to get on with routine.

The detectives knew their time was almost up to find Benson's motive. As a last ditch effort, Gates had organised a team to delve further into the Benson case so that Beckett's team could focus on the missing woman which is exactly what they were doing.

Beckett tapped the board holding the women's photos with a knuckle, "As we know, in nine out of ten murders cases, the killer is someone the victim knows." She stopped and turned to face her three men who were seated in a line on her desk.

"Agreed," Castle said.

"Yeah, but in this case there doesn't seem to be that link." Esposito commented pointing at the board. "Just a bunch of girls that have similar appearances."

"Very similar, but nothing else in common," Castle added.

"And I checked all their financials, and beside the fact they all reside within close proximity, we have no connections. Not even the same gym." Ryan said.

"A connection would give us a starting point." Castle added, "But there's nothing. Nothing to use a leverage to obtain money, they don't have top secret jobs, they don't have abilities to create weapons of destructions.

"No intel." Ryan added.

"No story, Castle?" Esposito inquired with a smart ass grin.

Rick ignored Espo's sarcasm, "Like I said, I've got nothing but a pounding urge to get this case resolved so I can take my fiancé on vacation."

"Don't worry, Castle, we're leaving tonight." Kate replied glancing to the countdown clock on her monitor that Rick had set up first thing that morning. Down to minutes.

"I know we are."

"Well, let's look at what information we do have. We know that Alison and her friends where living here." Kate pointed to a spot over the map she had placed on the board with magnetic pins and she marked it with a black cross.

Ryan stepped forward and placed an index finger on the map, "She went to work here."

"Yes she did." Kate marked the map with another cross.

"Her friends said they liked to go here for brunch," Esposito took his turn to point out a place on the map that Kate then marked.

"And we know she was leaving this night club with Chris Stone when they were abducted." She said and put a cross over the night club's address.

"Ok, we have the area in which to focus our investigation." Castle said as he drew a circle with a red text around the crosses.

"We are all the same. We never really move outside our suburb." She watched Castle's neat and almost perfect circle form.

"Now we do the same thing with the next woman. What color marker?" Castle asked with anticipation in his tone.

"Green." Kate reached to the cup of pens on her desk and pulled out a green marker.

Ryan grabbed the NYPD file, "Victim two," he began. "She lived in Queens."

"Queens," Rick echoed, taking the marker Kate held out for him. He then drew a green cross over the road name Ryan read to him. "Her place of work?"

"Arrr…" Kate put her finger over the place she worked, then removed it as Rick marked the spot.

All four of them worked together until the missing women's details were marked out the map. They saw a clutter patter emerged as they progressed. A clutter pattern that had them stand back and stare at the map, their hands on their chins in thought.

"This is interesting," Castle remarked.

"It's a big area." Beckett said.

"But it does narrow it down," Ryan said

"We know that killers also don't go out of their own district so we know the person or individuals we are searching for live within this area." Castle said looking to each of his team, his hand held over the region on the map.

"It's still a big area." Esposito pushed.

"With overlaps." Kate sat on her desk and glanced to the time. It was two minutes to five. "We'll have to leave it there. Castle?" She tapped her watch, "We have to leave Buddy."

The guys all looked at Beckett in disbelief.

"What?" She squawked, "I want to leave. I want to be on vacation with my fiancé."

Esposito hit Castle on the upper arm causing him to flinch in surprise, "Hey man, take her before Beckett returns and get outa here!"

"Or before Gates gets back," Ryan said.

Castle's eyes widened, his mouth fell open. He pointed at Kate, "Beckett, grab your bag. We're out of here."

"Castle, Gates is not going to burst in here now and ruin our vacation."

"Gates has been known to ruin many personal moments between us, Beckett. Shift your ass Lady, we're out or here. You guys will be alright with the case right? You're both very capable detectives." Castle grabbed their coats.

"We'll be fine." Esposito replied.

"Yeah good, I know you will." Castle replied as he glared at Kate to hurry her up. She was fishing about in her bottom desk drawer. Watching him rush about, she slowly picked up her bag. She looked at the boys, shaking her head at Castle's impulsivity to leave the Precinct, "We'll see you in a couple of weeks."

"Have a great time, guys." Ryan said as Kate came to him. She gave him a quick hug.

"Thanks. Take care of Esposito. Make sure you throw him some food every other day."

"Hey Chica! I'll be fine. Did you leave some gummy bears?" Esposito gave her a long hug.

"Top drawer. Take care of him." She murmured.

"I will." Esposito let her go and met hands with Castle's. "Hey Man, have fun. Look after our girl."

"Always." Castle replied, "Always care for her." He parted and shook Ryan's hand. "Don't let him go astray Ryan. You know what he's like."

"Yeah, I do. See you in two weeks."

"C'mon already, Castle." Kate called and smiled when she saw him hurry after her. "See you guys in a couple of weeks." She called.


End file.
